The Association between Self-efficacy in Weight Management with Anthropometric Indices in Male Adolescents

Obesity is one of the most prevalent health problems in the adolescents. Since the level of self-efficacy plays an important role in the prevention and control of obesity, this study aimed to investigate the association between the self-efficacy in weight management and anthropometric indicators in male adolescents.

This study was performed on 535 male students in the 12-16 age range and resident of District 5 in Tehran. A Bioimpedance analyzer was used to measure the weight, BMI, body fat and muscle mass percentage. Moreover, the level of self-efficacy of the subjects was evaluated using Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire (WEL).

The results showed that there is no association between the level of self-efficacy and weight and BMI. With regard to the association between body composition and self-efficacy, the results identified a significant positive association between the level of self-efficacy and Skeletal muscle percentage) (P<0.05).

The results of the present study represented that the level of self-efficacy in male adolescents was significantly associated with body composition; and people with higher self-efficacy have muscular body. Doing Further studies about the effect of self-efficacy on Anthropometric Indicators in adolescents are recommended.