Yost et al. BMC Public Health 2010, 10:465 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/465 Page 8 of 11 Table 6 Results of Survey-Weighted Logistic Regression for Engaging in Exercise as a Weight-Loss Methods Variable Age Hispanic origin Race Black/African American Native American Asian/Pacific Islander Other Mother’s Education > 8th grade, not HS grad Business/trade, not HS HS graduate Completed a GED Business/trade after HS Non-college graduate College graduate Post-graduate Total Household Income Actual Weight/BMI Overweight Obese Weight Perception (WP) Slightly Overweight Very Overweight WP Accuracy Overweight or Obese, Not Overweight WP Overweight or Obese, Slightly Overweight WP Overweight or Obese, Very Overweight Weight WP Note. a OR = odds ratio; b CI = confidence interval. c p < 0.05. Model 1 ORa CI (95%)b 0.90 0.79-1.01 0.84 0.36-1.95 0.75 0.37-1.54 1.53 0.47-4.99 0.45 0.14-1.46 1.71 0.76-3.85 0.58 0.25-1.32 0.52 0.05-5.28 0.87 0.36-2.14 0.34c 0.11-0.99 1.27 0.46-3.48 0.98 0.39-2.45 1.13 0.43-3.00 0.90 0.28-2.88 1.01 0.99-1.01 Model 2 ORa CI (95%)b 0.96 0.84-1.09 0.77 0.33-1.82 0.73 0.36-1.47 1.50 0.45-5.00 0.41 0.12-1.37 2.22c 1.03-4.79 0.53 0.22-1.28 0.39 0.04-4.07 0.81 0.30-2.17 0.28c 0.08-0.93 1.00 0.34-2.96 0.88 0.32-2.40 0.92 0.32-2.63 0.70 0.21-2.30 1.01 0.99-1.01 1.15 0.68-1.93 0.75 0.44-1.28 1.01 0.63-1.61 0.96 0.43-2.14 Model 3 ORa CI (95%)b 0.95 0.83-1.08 0.80 0.35-1.85 0.76 0.36-1.58 1.49 0.41-5.37 0.43 0.13-1.45 2.26c 1.05-4.88 0.52 0.21-1.32 0.39 0.04-4.03 0.81 0.29-2.25 0.30 0.09-1.02 1.01 0.33-3.10 0.93 0.32-2.64 0.92 0.31-2.73 0.66 0.19-2.32 1.01 0.99-1.01 0.58 0.25-1.35 0.93 0.59-1.45 1.23 0.52-2.93 female adolescents, after controlling for selected covari- ates. Overweight or obese female adolescents in the study were more likely to be trying to lose weight than those who were not overweight or obese, a finding that is consistent with previous studies of U.S. [16,22,27] and international [20,23] adolescents. In addition, the obese female adolescents in the current study were signifi- cantly more likely to be trying to lose weight than those who were overweight, another finding consistent with previous research on international adolescents [22]. Because the likeliness of the obese female adolescents in the present sample to be trying to lose weight was greater (4.14 times more likely than other female adoles- cents) than the likeliness of their international counter- parts (1.95 times more likely) [22], it is plausible that obese U.S. female adolescents are more likely to be try- ing to lose weight than obese female adolescents in other countries. Results from the current study also demonstrated that U.S. female adolescents who perceive themselves as slightly or very overweight are significantly more likely to be trying to lose weight than are those who do not perceive themselves as overweight, with no difference in the likeliness of trying to lose weight between a weight perception of slightly overweight and very overweight. This finding is comparable to a previous study of ado- lescents in Beirut [23] and addresses the lack of studies considering such an association in a sample of U.S. female adolescents. The current study’s finding that weight perception has a stronger association than BMI with trying to lose weight may raise concerns, because the association between weight perception and trying to lose weight is often related to eating disorders. However, such con- cerns may be assuaged by the finding that overweight or obese female adolescents with an accurate weight per- ception are more likely to be trying to lose weight than those who inaccurately perceive their weight. Further- more, the study’s overweight or obese female adoles- cents who underestimated their weight (20%) were significantly less likely to be trying to lose weight than those who accurately perceived their weight as either