Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NOV 09
Presented By:
1. INTRODUCTION 3
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 4
3.2 SUBJECTS
3.3 SAMPLING
3.5 MEASURES
4. RESULTS / ANALYSIS 10
5. DISCUSSION 13
6. REFLECTIONS 15
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY 16
1. Introduction: Define the problem
Extensive research has suggested that obesity may not be the only cause of
dissatisfaction may equally perceive prejudicial treatment (Annis, Cash, & Hrabosky,
2004; Cash & Hicks, 1990) and want to lose weight (Navia et al., 2003). Hence,
Weight control is the act of trying to lose or maintain weight (Serdula et al.,
1999).
This phenomenon is especially true for women, as many are generally more
concerned than men over their body weight and are also more inclined to control
Changes in diet and physical activity are the most prevalent methods of weight
control. Changing diets include consuming fewer calories and fat (Serdula et al.,
1999). These are the components that constitute healthy eating according to HPB.
Healthy eating is selecting a balanced diet that is high in dietary fibre and low in fat,
cholesterol, sugar and salt. It also means having different types of food in the right
weight but these studies are western-centric. This paper thus aims to find out if the
relationship between healthy eating and weight control can be generalized to the
local context.
2. Literature Review
More females than men have the desire to be thinner in Singapore. While only 28%
women want to be thinner (Wang et al., 1999). Weight control has also been
opportunity for Health Promotion Board (HPB) to reinforce the healthy eating lifestyle
(refer to SWOT analysis of HPB). This paper thus seeks to find out if female
undergraduates are controlling their weight and what are the methods employed.
RQ1: Are female undergraduates in NUS controlling their weight? If so, how
are they
controlling their weight? Are they satisfied with their methods of weight
control?
The theory of planned behavior suggests that behaviour is mainly predicted by
intention, which constitutes three main factors. “As a general rule, the stronger the
However, Armitage and Conner (1999) have separated self-efficacy with PCB. This
behaviour, and relates to internal resources such as motivation. PCB on the other
hand measures external factors, such as availability. For this study, self-efficacy is
chosen over PCB, as recommended by Armitage and Conner (1999). Thus, the
weight control intention and behaviour among female undergraduates in NUS. (Refer
to Appendix C for modified theory) This leads to the second research question.
RQ2: How does the Theory of Planned Behaviour help us understand weight
control intention
Three hypotheses were formulated to find out if a correlation exists between these
and intention to
control weight.
control weight.
intention to control
weight.
Furthermore, researchers have found a link between weight control and the adopting
of healthy dietary habits like increasing intake of fruits and vegetables (Lowry et al.,
A review of young people’s views on healthy eating revealed that their attitudes
towards healthy eating were generally positive and concerns over weight was
motivation for choosing healthier food. This suggests that young people who
are practicing weight control have a more positive attitude towards healthy eating
NUS.
RQ3: What is the relationship between healthy eating and weight control
intentions among
female undergraduates?
H4: There is a positive relationship between intention to control weight and the
attitude
H5: There is a positive relationship between intention to control weight and the
frequency of