Intervention with conviction-confidence model for non-obese high school students to prevent unhealthy dieting: a...

Unhealthy dieting behaviors to lose weight in adolescents can cause future health issues such as mineral, hormonal, or bone complications, highlighting the importance of preventive interventions.

Six classes consisting of 236 first-year high school students were randomly allocated to an intervention group, which participated in interactive healthy eating and dieting programs, or to a control group, which attended a smoking prevention workshop. Data from non-obese students were analyzed, comparing the dieting behaviors of both groups at a two-month follow-up. Self-reported questionnaires assessed conviction and confidence levels about healthy eating and dieting after the intervention.

The two groups did not differ in the proportion of students engaging in dieting behavior after the intervention (intervention:14.9% vs. control:22.7%, p=0.18). The intervention increased the conviction level regarding healthy eating (90.4% vs. 74.7%, p<0.01) but not the confidence level (50.0% vs. 36.0%, p=0.06);it did not significantly impact conviction and confidence levels regarding healthy dieting (62.8% vs. 61.4%, p=0.84;45.7% vs. 37.5%, p=0.26).

The classroom-based intervention failed to prevent unhealthy dieting behavior among non-obese students. Interventions boosting conviction and confidence, thereby preventing unhealthy dieting among all students, regardless of risk factors such as eating disorder tendencies, require further research.