The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Vickie L. Sanchez, PhD and Derek R. Holcomb, PhD. Department of Health Promotion and Administration, Eastern Kentucky University, 521 Lancaster Avenue, 420 Begley Building, Richmond, KY 40475, 859-626-5109, vickie.sanchez@eku.edu
During the spring of 2001, 925 undergraduate students from a large southeastern university were randomly selected and mailed a health-behavior survey. Of the 368 students who returned the survey (response rate: 39.7%), 222 (60.5%) were female. Among the 59.5% of these females who reported being overweight, 45% reported that they were considering or had used diet pills to lose weight in the 6 mos. preceding the study. Even among those who reported to be "about the right weight," 29.6% reported that they were considering or had used diet pills in the past 6 mos. Furthermore, the percentage of females considering using diet pills (11.7%) was by far the greatest number of college females contemplating initial use of any drug; and, recent users (20.3%) also represented the greatest number of new users for any drug studied.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Weight Management, Women
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.