Initiation of dieting among adolescent females

OBJECTIVE: This brief report identifies the factors that distinguish girls who have begun dieting recently from those who have never dieted, using Huon and Strong's (International Journal of Eating Disorders 23:361-369, 1998) model of dieting. METHOD: Sixty-two initiating dieters were carefully matched with 62 never dieters, according to school, grade, age, language spoken at home, and country of birth. Both groups completed a battery of questionnaires that assessed their dieting status, perceived social influence to diet, conformity disposition, assertiveness, and familial context. RESULTS: A discriminant function analysis showed that initiating dieters and never dieters could be distinguished most clearly by their levels of peer and parental influence. Initiating dieters conformed and complied more to their parents. They were also more competitive with their peers than were the girls who had never dieted. Perceived supportiveness of fathers was also found to set apart those girls who had never dieted. DISCUSSION: Girls who are just beginning to diet differ from those who have never dieted, predominantly in terms of their perceived social influence. The forms of parental influence that distinguish the two groups differ in nature from the type of influence exerted by peers.