ABSTRACT
Among current health-related issues, obesity is considered one of the foremost, and the importance of this subject has fostered a national interest in body weight loss. In this study, the differences in recognition of body weight loss according to age and gender are investigated. The subjects of the study were 720 (male: 360 and female: 360) aged between 10 - 60 years, who had experienced to try body weight loss during 6 months prior to this study. Anthropometrics, general characteristics, personal reasons for body weight loss, comprehension of body weight loss, and a knowledge of diet-related issues were assessed through a questionnaire. The anthropometric measurements showed significant differences in height, body weight (present and desired) and BMI (p < 0.05) by age and gender. The difference between desired body weight and actual body weight was greater for younger subjects or female, regardless of whether they had under- or normal body weight (p < 0.05). Reasons for body weight loss varied; younger subjects and female tended to lose body weight "to enhance their appearances", whereas the older subjects and male desired "to improve their health" (p < 0.05). Subjects had different concepts concerning body weight loss; younger subjects and female considered body weight loss as "maintenance of a slender figure, or becoming more lean". On the other hand, older subjects and male thought body weight loss to be "effects approaching normal body weight" (p < 0.05). From our studies, it can be concluded that attitude on concerning body weight loss varied according to a age and gender. Thus, consideration of this individual differences would be vital in developing contents of a particular nutritional education program for body weight loss.