The Relationship Between Weight-Efficacy of Life style and Overweight and Obesity

Self-efficacy beliefs are the predicting indices of a wide range of health behaviors. The present study was conducted to study the relationship between weight-efficacy of life style and overweight and obesity. In this case-control study, 101 individuals with BMI ≥ 25 as the obese group and 101 persons with BMI between 18-25 as the normal group were selected using convenience sampling from among the administrative staff in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences in 1391. Data was gathered using the "Weight-Efficacy of Life style questionnaire", the reliability of which had been evaluated by test–retest and its validity was assessed using different methods such as factor analysis, convergent and divergent validity. Data were analyzed by spss software (version 15) and using t test, ANOVA and logistic regression tests. Mean scores of Weight-Efficacy of Life style in three settings of social pressure, access to food and positive emotions in the obese group were higher than those of the normal group. Weight- Efficacy of Life style in the obese group compared to the normal weight individuals is low, especially in the three settings of social pressure, access to food and positive emotions. Enhancing and supporting the self efficacy in weight loss programs seem to be of crucial importance.