Associations of perceived body image and subjective social status with levels of physical activity in Mexican American adolescents
Abstract
The current study is a secondary data analysis of a prospective cohort study that examined demographic and psychosocial variables and their associations with physical activity levels in Mexican-American adolescents in Houston, Texas. Body image, subjective social status, and anxiety were the main variables of interest. The sample included 952 unrelated Mexican-American adolescents in Houston, Texas. The majority (84.2%) of the study population did not meet physical activity standards prescribed by the CDC. In a multivariate model controlling for age, socioeconomic status, gender, general body image, preferred body image, subjective social status, and anxiety, gender and subjective social status were found to be the strongest determinants of physical activity levels. Males and those with a high subjective social status were more likely to participate in physical activity than those with low subjective status. Lower levels of anxiety and a more positive body image were also found to be associated with higher levels of physical activity. In multivariate analyses gender and subjective social status showed the strongest associations with physical activity.
Subject Area
Behavioral psychology|Public health|Kinesiology|Hispanic American studies|Demography
Recommended Citation
Miller, Erline, "Associations of perceived body image and subjective social status with levels of physical activity in Mexican American adolescents" (2013). Texas Medical Center Dissertations (via ProQuest). AAI1541445.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/dissertations/AAI1541445