Abstract

PURPOSE
the purposes of this study were: to contribute to maintaining and promoting health for female college students by identifying their body weight control behaviors and the Affecting factors; and, to serve as a basis for the development of weight control programs to orient their weight management to a desirable direction specifically for those who have low or normal body weight but still practice body weight control in a way that is neither useful nor desirable. METHOD: The data were analyzed by the SPSS/PC 10.0 statistical program using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and the Stepwise multiple regression. RESULT: The main predictive factors affecting body weight control was 'between - meal snack', 'family support', 'satisfaction with their diet', 'possession of secret method for weight loss', 'body image', 'satisfaction with university life', and 'interest in weight control'. CONCLUSION: It may be necessary to develope educational programs on weight control for female collegians in consideration of affecting body weight control behavior.

• Keywords: Body Weight Control Behaviors; Female College students; Self-Esteem; Image of the Body; Subjective Obesity; Objective Obesity