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This article was downloaded by: [Adams State University] On: 15 October 2014, At: 12:15 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uedi20 Are You Currently on a Diet? What Respondents Mean When They Say “Yes” C. Alix Timko a , Julie Perone b & Alisa Crossfield c a Center for Counseling and Student Development, University of Delaware , Newark, Delaware, USA b Counseling and Psychological Services, West Chester University , West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA c Temple University , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Published online: 21 Aug 2006. To cite this article: C. Alix Timko , Julie Perone & Alisa Crossfield (2006) Are You Currently on a Diet? What Respondents Mean When They Say “Yes”, Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, 14:2, 157-166, DOI: 10.1080/10640260500536300 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10640260500536300 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

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This article was downloaded by: [Adams State University]On: 15 October 2014, At: 12:15Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Eating Disorders: The Journal ofTreatment & PreventionPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uedi20

Are You Currently on a Diet? WhatRespondents Mean When They Say “Yes”C. Alix Timko a , Julie Perone b & Alisa Crossfield ca Center for Counseling and Student Development, University ofDelaware , Newark, Delaware, USAb Counseling and Psychological Services, West Chester University ,West Chester, Pennsylvania, USAc Temple University , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USAPublished online: 21 Aug 2006.

To cite this article: C. Alix Timko , Julie Perone & Alisa Crossfield (2006) Are You Currently on aDiet? What Respondents Mean When They Say “Yes”, Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment &Prevention, 14:2, 157-166, DOI: 10.1080/10640260500536300

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10640260500536300

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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Eating Disorders, 14:157–166, 2006Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1064-0266 print/1532-530X onlineDOI: 10.1080/10640260500536300

UEDI1064-02661532-530XEating Disorders, Vol. 14, No. 02, January 2006: pp. 0–0Eating Disorders

Are You Currently on a Diet? What Respondents Mean When They Say “Yes”

Current Dieters’ Responses to Dieting QuestionsC. A. Timko et al.

C. ALIX TIMKOCenter for Counseling and Student Development, University of Delaware,

Newark, Delaware, USA

JULIE PERONECounseling and Psychological Services, West Chester University, West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA

ALISA CROSSFIELDTemple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Male and female university students were asked the questions “Areyou currently on a diet to lose weight?” and “Are you currently ona diet to maintain your weight?” Respondents were asked to clarifypositive responses by listing weight-control behaviors in which theywere engaged. Responses were coded into 12 categories of dietingmethods. Results indicated women and men who diet to loseweight engage in a wider variety of weight-loss behaviors thanthose engaged in dieting to maintain weight. Findings furtherindicated differences in dieting methods between individuals diet-ing to lose weight as opposed to dieting to maintain weight.

The difficult, if not impossible, task of developing a standard operational-ized definition of dieting is compounded by the various interpretations ofwhat dieting actually is. This is most noticeable in the lack of an acceptedway to measure or assess dieting (French & Jeffery, 1994). Though there aresome continuous measures designed to assess dieting (e.g., Martz & Shaw,1994; Strong & Huon 1997), each measures different aspects of dieting andapproaches the measurement in a slightly different manner. One of themost common ways to assess dieting is to ask participants either “Are youcurrently on a diet to lose weight?” or “Are you currently on a diet to main-tain weight?” This dichotomous method is a convenient and simple way of

Address correspondence to C. Alix Timko, 3720 Walnut Street, Department of Psychology,University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail: [email protected]

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addressing whether or not an individual considers oneself to be currentlydieting.

Although this gives researchers better insight into whether or not a partici-pant identifies as being a “dieter,” asking these basic yes/no questions providesno information as to the caloric intake involved in the diet, nor information asto how the respondent is interpreting the question (Neumark-Sztainer, Jeffery, &French, 1997). In addition, this type of question does not allow researchers toascertain what behaviors are considered dieting (Martz & Shaw, 1994), nor doesit distinguish whether or not one is eating to be healthy and/or watching whatone eats but still does not consider oneself on a diet.

Another aspect of dieting that makes defining it uniformly difficult iswhether or not individuals who report being on a diet are actually engaging inbehaviors to lose or maintain their weight. Dieting could be understood aseating in a healthy manner or as the intent to engage in particular behaviors.Individuals could also endorse “no” in response to a question about dieting ifthey consider themselves “weight watching.” Weight watching, though involvingmany of the same behaviors as dieting, may be viewed as being more preven-tative in nature (Wertheim, Paxton, Schutz, & Muir, 1997). That is, individualswho watch their weight may be attempting to avoid weight gain, whereas diet-ing is usually viewed as attempting weight loss. There is also some evidencethat individuals who consider themselves as “controlling their weight” do notconsider themselves to be dieters but do engage in many of the same behav-iors in which self-reported dieters engage (Connor & Norman, 1996).

Since most dieters use a combination of methods to diet (Nichter,Rittenbaugh, Nichter, Vuckovic, & Aicken, 1995), it is difficult, if not impossi-ble, to assume what individuals imply when using the term “dieting.” In orderto clarify respondents’ intentions when they endorse “yes” to the questions“Are you currently dieting to lose weight?” and “Are you currently on a diet tomaintain your weight?” it was decided to ask individuals to clarify theirresponses to these questions. Consequently, the current study was exploratoryin nature and collected qualitative data from individuals who self-identified asbeing on a diet to lose weight or on a diet to maintain weight. By gatheringinformation about what young women and men mean when they answer“yes” to the dichotomous questions being used to ascertain dieting status, thecurrent study is intended to provide necessary information for designing avalid measure to assess dieting behavior and intention in college students.

METHOD

Participants

Participants were 670 students from three universities. Their ages rangedfrom 18–55 (M = 20.76, SD = 3.28). One hundred and eighty-three (183) ofthe participants were men, 487 were women. Women’s BMIs ranged from

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Current Dieters’ Responses to Dieting Questions 159

15.15 to 45.72 (M = 22.68, SD = 3.67) and men’s BMIs ranged from 16.73 to44.07 (M = 24.59, SD = 3.77). The ethnic diversity of the population wassimilar to that of the universities where data were collected. The majority ofthe sample were Caucasian (83.7%, N = 561), 9.3% (N = 62) were AfricanAmerican, and 6.0% (N = 47) belonged to other minority groups.

Procedure and Measures

Participants were asked to complete a battery of questionnaires to assesseating habits and mental health in college students. The battery included(among others): Body Shape Questionnaire (Cooper, Taylor, Cooper, &Fairburn, 1987), Eating Attitudes Test-26 (Garner, Olmsted, Bohr, &Garfinkel, 1982), and The Beck Depression Inventory – Second Edition(Beck, Brown, & Steer, 1996). As a large portion of the battery was not rele-vant for this study, it will not be discussed in detail. Questionnaires weredistributed and completed during various undergraduate classes. Therewere no incentives for participation, nor were any students penalized fordeclining to complete the packet. The appropriate regulatory boards at eachinstitution approved data collection.

As part of the demographic information requested, participants wereasked to report their weight, height, age, and ethnicity. In addition, theywere asked the following questions:

Are you currently on a diet to lose weight? Yes NoAre you currently on a diet to maintain your weight? Yes NoIf you answered “yes” to one of the above questions, please list whatyou are doing to lose or maintain weight (e.g., Atkins dieting, exercise,low-carb diet, counting calories, eating healthy, etc.).

These questions were presented as displayed above, and participants weregiven approximately three inches of blank space to list any behaviors inwhich they were engaging. The examples provided in the question werebased on popular current diets and the authors’ clinical experience. Thoughit is possible that this list influenced respondents’ spontaneous responses, itwas deemed necessary to provide participants with examples in order toencourage responses. The separation of dieting behaviors into “dieting tolose” or “dieting to maintain” weight has been suggested in the past, as diet-ers who report they are on a diet to lose weight expend more caloriesthrough exercise than those dieting to maintain weight or those who are notdieting (French et al., 1994). It is therefore possible that other weight-control behaviors may differ between these two groups.

The qualitative information provided by respondents was divided into 12categories: exercise and eating healthy, eating healthy, exercise only, exerciseas adjunct, low carbohydrate/high protein diet, low- or no-carbohydrate diet,high-protein diet, low-fat diet, reduced calorie, commercial weight-loss

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program, unhealthy methods, and other. Due to the way in which data werecoded, it was possible for someone to endorse more than one weight-control method.

The individuals who reported “healthy eating and exercise” as a weight-control method were coded under the first category. If a participant listedeating healthy, exercise and another method of weight control (such asreduced calorie intake or diet pills) each of these behaviors was categorizedseparately. This was done because “eating healthy and exercise” whencombined with other behaviors may be different than “eating healthy andexercise” when reported as a unit. Reduced-calorie diets included those whowere reducing intake and “counting” calories. Commercial weight lossprograms generally included Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss, Atkins, anduse of Metabo-life. High-protein diets included individuals who took proteinsupplements or shakes. Unhealthy methods included the use of diet pills,products containing ephedrine, purging, smoking, and the identification of aneating disorder. These unhealthy methods provided by the participants aresimilar to unhealthy methods of dieting assessed by other researchers (Biener &Heaton, 1995, French, Perry, Leon, & Fulkerson, 1995). Skipping meals orreducing the number of meals eaten during the day were both coded as“other.” Though some professionals would consider this an unhealthy dietingpractice, it is possible that respondents may consider this healthy. Additionaldieting practices that fell into the “other” category were use of professionalhelp, watching one’s weight, and consuming more water or green tea.

RESULTS

Before analyzing the data, inter-rater reliability for classifying dieters’ behaviorwas calculated. Inter-rater reliability was quite high with alphas ranging from.94 to 1.00. The only alpha level under .94 was that for low-carbohydrate/high-protein diets (alpha = .80).

As dieting practices may differ across gender and type of self-identifieddieting (for weight loss or maintenance), the data will be reported separately.In order to compare differences between weight-loss dieters and those dietingto maintain weight, a series of chi-square analyses were conducted for thefemale participants. There was not a sufficient number of male participants toensure statistical power, therefore no statistical tests were performed on thatdata. Consequently, the male data was summarized according to the fre-quency with which male participants reported dieting behaviors.

Female Results

Almost half of the women reported not being on a diet to lose or maintainweight (N = 237, 48.7%), 108 women (22.2%) reported dieting to lose

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Current Dieters’ Responses to Dieting Questions 161

weight, and 101 women (20.7%) reported dieting to maintain weight. Asmall portion of women indicated they were both on a diet to lose and tomaintain weight (N = 41, 8.4%). The groups of women differed significantlyin their BMIs (F(3, 483) = 15.08, p < 0.001), with those who were dieting tolose weight having significantly higher BMIs (M = 24.55, SD = 3.99) thanthose dieting to maintain weight (M = 22.27, SD = 3.26, p < 0.001) and thosenot dieting (M = 21.86, SD = 3.29, p < 0.001). The latter two groups did notdiffer significantly from each other.

Of the women who reported being on a diet to lose weight, 17.6% ofthem reported eating healthy and exercising. This is less than half the num-ber of women who identified as dieting to maintain weight via exercise andhealthy eating (32.7%, χ2(1), N = 209) = 6.35, p = 0.01). Women dieting tolose weight also differed from women dieting to maintain weight in terms oftheir use of exercise. Almost half of the women (43.5%, N = 47) dieting tolose weight used exercise in addition to other forms of weight loss. This is asignificantly higher number of women than those dieing to maintain weight(23.8%, χ2(1), N = 209) = 9.08, p = 0.003). On the other hand, women whodieted to maintain weight tended to use only exercise (10.9%) more oftenthan women who were dieting to lose weight (0%). With respect to specifictypes of dieting strategies, the only significant difference between the twogroups was in the consumption of low- or no-carbohydrate diet. Morewomen who identified as dieting to lose weight tended to engage in thistype of diet (24.1%) than women who identified as dieting to maintainweight (9.9%, χ2(1), N = 209) = 7.35, p < 0.007).

There was no significant difference between the two groups of womenfor the remaining methods of weight control. Thirty-four percent (34.3%) ofwomen dieting to lose weight engaged in healthy eating habits, whereas33.7% of those dieting to maintain weight did so. One quarter of weight lossdieters reduced their caloric intake; 14.9% of those dieting to maintainweight consumed a reduced-calorie diet. In terms of low-fat diets, 9.3% ofthose trying to lose weight used this method and 5.9% of those maintainingtheir weight adhered to this type of diet. While 13% of the women dietingfor weight loss reported using some form of commercial weight loss program,only 5.9% of those maintaining their weight used commercial programs.Of the latter group, a few participants clarified their responses on thequestionnaire. For example, one woman noted that she used a commercialprogram’s “point system” to help her maintain weight but was not trying tolose any more weight. None of the women dieting to lose weight consumeda low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet for weight control and only oneadhered to a solely high-protein diet. Of the women dieting to maintainweight, 2 consumed a low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet and one con-sumed a high-protein diet. A small percentage of both types of dietersengaged in unhealthy weight loss, with 5 women trying to lose weight viaunhealthy methods and 3 attempting to maintain their weight via unhealthy

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methods. Finally, equivalent percentages of those dieting to lose weight(13%) and dieting to maintain weight (12.9%) engaged in other methods ofweight control.

There was a small subgroup of women (8.4%) who reported both diet-ing to maintain and dieting to lose weight. Instead of discarding this data, itwas decided to investigate what types of behavior this group used forweight control. It was possible that these women considered themselves tobe on some sort of diet but did not entirely characterize it as dieting to loseor maintain weight. Of this group of 41 women, over one third of them(36.6%) ate healthy and engaged in exercise. One third (29.9%) of the 26remaining women engaged in healthy eating, 19.5% ate a reduced-caloriediet, 17.1% used a commercial weight loss program, and 14.6% used a no-or low-carbohydrate diet in order to diet. As far as exercise was concerned,19.5% used exercise in addition to one of the other methods of weightcontrol and 4.9% (or two women) engaged in exercise alone for dietingpurposes. Two women noted that they used unhealthy methods to controltheir weight and one woman ate a low-fat diet. None of the women used alow-carbohydrate/high-protein diet. Over fourteen percent (14.6%) of thewomen used other means of weight control.

Male Results

Of the male respondents, only 13 reported being on a diet to lose weight(BMI: M = 26.75, SD = 4.91), 28 reported dieting to maintain their weight(BMI: M = 25.66, SD = 3.03), and 7 indicated they were dieting to both loseand maintain weight (BMI: M = 27.36, SD = 4.36). Those who were notdieting had an average BMI of 24.00 (SD = 3.61). There were no significantdifferences in BMI between these groups of men. Of the 13 men who weredieting to lose weight, 3 of them (23.1%) used diet and exercise to loseweight. The remaining 10 primarily engaged in healthy eating (38.5%) and23.1% reported consuming a no- or low- carbohydrate diet. A third of thesample used exercise as an adjunct to their chosen method of weight loss(30.8%). None of them used unhealthy measures for weight loss or a com-mercial weight-loss program. The remaining methods of weight controlwere endorsed by only one participant each.

As far as dieting to maintain weight, the 39.3% of the 28 men whoengaged in this form of weight control engaged in healthy eating and exer-cise, and 17.9% used exercise as their only form of weight maintenance.The 12 remaining men used exercise as an adjunct to other methods 17.9%of the time, 17.9% used “other methods” of weight control, 14.3% engagedin healthy eating, 10.7% ate a no- or low-carbohydrate diet, and 7.1%consumed a high-protein diet. None of the men who endorsed dieting tomaintain weight used a high-protein/low- carbohydrate diet, reduced-calorie

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Current Dieters’ Responses to Dieting Questions 163

diet, unhealthy practices, or a low-fat diet for weight control. Only one manreported using a commercial weight-loss program.

As was found with the women, there was a small group of men whoendorsed both dieting to maintain weight and dieting to lose weight. Of theseven men, none of them engaged in the following behaviors: eatinghealthy and exercising, low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet, unhealthyweight loss practices, low- or no-carbohydrate diet, low- or no-fat diet,high-protein diet or other behaviors. Four of the men used exercise only(42.9%), four men engaged in healthy eating (42.9%), 28.6% ate a reduced-calorie diet, and one man utilized a commercial weight loss program.

DISCUSSION

Overall, it appears that women and men who diet to lose weight engage ina wider variety of weight loss behaviors than those engaged in dieting tomaintain weight. Women who are dieting to lose weight do not appear toengage in as much exercise as women who are dieting to maintain weight.This is potentially important information, given that exercise is necessary formaintaining weight. Women who are dieting to maintain their weight tendto focus on healthy eating, exercise, and reduced caloric intake more thanany other method of weight control. They also tend to engage in thesebehaviors more often than women dieting to lose weight. Some of these dif-ferences may be explained by BMI. Though the mean BMI of both groups isin the normal range, those women dieting to lose weight have significantlyhigher BMIs than those dieting to maintain weight. Since those dieting tolose weight are actively engaged in weight loss, it is not surprising that theirweight is higher. However, this higher weight may also drive them to notonly try less reliable methods of weight loss but also to engage in a greatervariety and even unhealthier approaches to losing weight.

As far as the men were concerned, there were relatively few men diet-ing to lose or maintain weight, therefore the information gathered from themen may not be representative of male populations. In general, the mentended to engage in exercise more frequently than women and tended notto use unhealthy methods or commercial weight-loss programs. Like thewomen, there was more variety in the methods used by men dieting to loseweight as opposed to those dieting to maintain weight. Men were also morelikely to engage in a diet that modified macronutrient intake (e.g., high-protein diets). Unfortunately, there were also not enough men in the samplewho considered themselves to be dieting in order to compare them towomen or to make any truly meaningful interpretations of male dieingbehavior. One drawback to the assessment of dieting behavior in men wasthat men were not given the option to note whether they were on a diet togain weight or muscle. There is some evidence that men prefer a more

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muscled physique that may lead them to engage in different “dieting” prac-tices (Cafri & Thompson, 2004). This is an important area to assess in futurestudies.

Surprisingly, there were very few men and women who were usinglow-carbohydrate or low-carbohydrate /high-protein diets for weight control.This was unexpected, given the great deal of advertising and media attentionpromoting this type of diet. Of course, the women and men who indicatedthat they were “eating healthy” did not clarify this. Eating healthy could meanany number of things, including diets that restrict certain macronutrients or awell-balanced diet.

It is also unknown whether or not the respondents were actuallyengaging in the behaviors they reported or were just intending to engage inthem. Those who reported not dieting to lose or maintain weight were notqueried about their consummatory behaviors; therefore, it is unknownwhether or not non-dieters were engaging in similar weight-control behaviorsas dieters — but did not consider it dieting. In addition, information aboutthe respondents’ dieting history was not gathered. Dieting may not meanthe same thing for an individual who has dieted frequently in the past as itdoes for someone who is dieting for the first time. These are all issues thatneed to be addressed in future research in order to provide more in-depthand meaningful information about the types of behaviors used in dieting.

In addition to the respondents who endorsed dieting to lose or main-tain weight, there was a small group of male and female participants whoendorsed both. It was decided to investigate their responses as well. Thisgroup of individuals appeared to engage in similar types of behaviors as theother two groups. It is noteworthy, however, that they considered them-selves to be both on a diet to lose weight and on a diet to maintain weight.It is, therefore, possible that this sub-group of men and women represent asmall population of individuals who are engaged in weight control behav-iors, but who also characterize it differently than either dieting to loseweight or dieting to maintain weight.

One limitation to this study is the population. Though it is a large sam-ple, all of the participants were college students. The majority of researchdone on the assessment of dieting and dieting behaviors has been con-ducted in adolescent populations. Though it is uncertain how college-agedindividuals would differ from high school-aged individuals in terms of diet,it is known that college-aged individuals do not generally engage in healthyeating and weight control practices (Wardle, et al., 1997). Those who do arethose most likely to consider themselves to be on a diet or trying to loseweight. In addition, many women actually decrease their unhealthy or eat-ing disordered patterns of consumption 10 years out of college. Therefore,the information gathered in this study may not be applicable to normalweight, middle-aged women (Heatherton, Mahamedi, Striepe, Field, & Keel,1997).

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Current Dieters’ Responses to Dieting Questions 165

Dieting pervades western culture, with a large percentage of the popula-tion currently attempting to lose weight for one reason or another (e.g.,Nichter et al., 1995; Wertheim et al., 1997). Often socio-cultural pressures to bethin, health reasons, and the clear prejudice that exists toward obese individu-als are cited as the main reasons for this dieting phenomenon. In order tounderstand dieting and weight loss, it is not only necessary to have a goodgrasp of the possible mindset or intentions that exist but also to understand thenature of the behaviors involved. Investigating the specific behaviors in whichindividuals engage to lose weight may shed more light on the nuances of diet-ing (Connor & Norman, 1996). This study was a step in that direction. Manystudies that investigate dieting or eating practices provide participants with listsof behaviors or dietary practices. This study was unique in that it asked theparticipants to provide qualitative information about their consummatorybehavior. Therefore, it is possible to take the qualitative information gatheredin this study and develop a more sophisticated method of measuring dieting.Finally, exploring various behaviors involved and whether or not these behav-iors differ according to the intent behind the diet should be studied/explored.

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5 O

ctob

er 2

014