Weight control behaviors among overweight, normal weight and underweight adolescents in Palestine: findings from the national study of Palestinian schoolchildren (HBSC-WBG2004).

Objective: The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between weight-control behaviors and selfreported sociodemographic characteristics, weight status, and perception of body weight in a large, representative sample of adolescents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip territories of Palestine. Method: Self-report measures of sociodemographic characteristics, body weight perception, height and weight, and weight-control behaviors were completed by 8,885 male and female students aged 12–18 years from 405 randomly selected schools as part of the 2003/2004 Palestinian Health Behavior in School-aged Children Study (HBSC). Results: In both genders, dieting to lose weight was common amon…