Table 1.

Studies examining weight loss intention and strategies in youth observational studies (N = 19)

Study	N	Sample✝	Gender (% female)	% OW/OBa	Ethnicity✝	Location	Study type	Healthy strategies	Unhealthy strategies	Extreme strategies
Calderon et al. (2004) [18]	146	10th grade	64	27 (Mb)	8% Caucasian 27% Asian-American 4% African-American 48% Hispanic 0% Native-American 12% Other	California	CSc	Eating smaller portions	Skipping meals, fad or crash diet	Diet aids
Childress et al. (1993) [24]	3129	5th to 8th grade	51	N/A	64% Caucasian 21% African-American 7% Other 8% N/A	South Carolina	CS	Exercise	Fasting	Vomiting, diuretics, diet pills, laxatives
Davis & Lambert (2000) [25]	1994	5th grade	51	34 (M)	100% Native-American	New Mexico	CS	Exercise, “eating a little less”	Strict diet	N/A
French et al. (1995) [46]	852	7th to 10th grade	100	N/A	89% Caucasian 4% Mixed Race 3%Asian-American < 1%Native-American < 1%African-American < 1% Hispanic	Minnesota	Ld	Low-calorie diet	N/A	Vomiting, diet pills, laxatives, enemas
Kilpatrick et al. (1999) [19]	6504	7th to 12th grade	53	22 (M) 31 (Pe)	62% Caucasian 23% African-American 9% Hispanic 3% Asian-American 3% Native-American	USA†	CS	Exercise	N/A	Vomiting, diet pills, laxatives
Koff & Rierdan (1991) [45]	206	6th grade	100	21 (P)	100% Caucasian	Massachusetts	CS	Exercise, avoid fattening foods	Skipping meals, fasting	N/A
Krowchuk et al. (1998) [23]	2331	6th to 8th grade	49	24 (P)	64% Caucasian 28% African-American 2% Hispanic 1% Asian-American 2% Native-American 3% Other	North Carolina	CS	Exercise	N/A	Vomiting or using laxatives, diet pills
McVey et al. (2005) [20]	1458	6th to 8th grade	54	19 (M) 28 (P)	38% Caucasian 26% South Asian 17% Asian-American 13% African-Canadian 14% Other	Ontario, CA	CS	Exercise	Skipping meals	Vomiting, diet pills, laxatives or diuretics
Page et al. (1993) [49]	1915	10th to 12th grade	51	N/A	73% Caucasian 25% African-American 2% Other	Mississippi	CS	Exercise	Fasting, very restrictive diet, crash diet	Vomiting, diet pills, water pills, laxatives
Phelps et al. (1993) [40]	367f	7th to 8th grade and 9th to 12th grade	100	N/A	N/A	New York	CS	N/A	N/A	Vomiting, diet pills, laxatives
Rafiroiu et al. (2000) [43]	1439	3rd to 5th grade	52	N/A	55% Caucasian	South Carolina	CS	N/A	N/A	Vomiting, diet pills
Serdula et al. (1993) [39]	11,467	9th to 12th grade	51	25 (P)	55% Caucasian 20% African-American 20% Hispanic 6% Other	USA‡	CS	Exercise	Skipping meals	Vomiting, diet pills
Shisslak et al. (1998) [48]	523	Elementary and middle school children	100	N/A	48% Caucasian 26% Hispanic 17% Asian-American 5% African-American 2% Native-American 2% Other	California, Arizona	CS	Exercise, eat less fat/sweets	Skipping meals, fasting	Vomiting, diet pills, laxatives
Shisslak et al. (2006) [44]	1164	6th to 9th grade	100	19% overweight, 19% at risk overweight (M)	43% Caucasian 40% Hispanic 17% African-American	California, Arizona	CS	Exercise, cut back on food, eaten less sweets or fatty foods	Skipping meals, fasting	Vomiting, diet pills, laxatives
Stevens et al. (1999) [41]	304	4th grade	54	12 (P)	100% Native-American	Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota	CS	Exercise, change what/how ate	Skipping meals, fasting	N/A
Story et al. (1994) [47]	13,454	7th to 12th grade	N/A	31 (P)	100% Native-American	South Dakota, New Mexico, Alaska, Minnesota, Montana, Tennessee, Utah, Arizona	CS	N/A	N/A	Vomiting, diet pills, laxatives, diuretics
Story et al. (2001) [21]	1441	2nd to 3rd grade	48	42 (M)	100% Native-American	Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota	CS	Exercise, changed what/how much ate	Skipping meals, fasting	N/A
Yost et al. (2010) [38]	1040	Females aged 13–18	100	15.5% overweight, 11.8% obese (as per BMI percentile)	69% Caucasian 19% African-American 2% Native-American 3% Asian-American 12% Hispanic	USA††	CS	Exercise	N/A	N/A
Zullig et al. (2006) [42]	4175	9th to 12th grade	54	54 (P)	54% Caucasian 46% African-American	South Carolina	CS	N/A	Fasting	Vomiting or laxatives, diet pills

Note: ^✝Sample reported here in terms found in the original article. Ethnicity reported here in the order found in the original article. ^aOW/OB overweight/obese, ^bM Measured OV/OB, ^cCS Cross-sectional, ^dL Longitudinal; ^eP self-perception OV/OB, ^fIn this study, students were assessed at three time points (1984, 1989 and 1992). Results from the most recent wave of the study (1992) are presented in this review. ^†Nationally representative sample: Add Health Wave I; ^††Nationally representative sample: Add Health Wave I and II; ^‡Nationally representative sample: Youth Risk Behavior Survey