Factors affecting the dietary quality of adolescent girls.

Abstract

This study investigated variable to differentiate two groups of adolescent girls, one consuming a good quality diet and one consuming a poor diet. Of the initial sample of 276 adolescent girls surveyed, the 50 girls with the best and 50 with the worst diets were identified. No differnece between the groups was found on three personality traits (self-esteem, social recognition, and enerty level). The use of a multivariate stepwise discriminant function analysis resulted in the selection of three variables as the strongest predictors of dietary quality: hours per day spent in - inactive pursuits, ideal body image choices, and past dieting attempts.