Parental influences on the dieting beliefs and behaviors of adolescent females in New Zealand

Purpose: To investigate parental influences on the weight perceptions and the dieting beliefs and behaviors of adolescent girls. Methods: The subjects were 232, 8th and 9th grade girls attending an urban New Zealand secondary school. Data on girls' perceptions of being thinner, beliefs about dieting, and their dieting behavior were obtained via a number of self-report scales. Results: An association was found between girls' perceptions of the impact of being thinner, dieting beliefs, dieting behaviors, and parental encouragement to diet (p < .0001). In general, parental dieting practices did not influence dieting beliefs except that fathers' dieting behavior was associated with some aspects of girls' dieting behaviors. Conclusions: Parental encouragement to diet was associated with a wide range of weight loss behaviors, including the more extreme measures. In addition, having a father who dieted was associated with participation in a number of the dieting behaviors.