Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect of body image distortion on the relationship between body mass index and weight loss behaviors among underweight and normal weight adolescents. Methods: Using statistics from 15th (2019) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Webbased Survey, Rao-Scott χ 2 test and complex samples logistic regression was conducted. The study sample included 44,057 middle and high school students. Results: Weight loss behaviors had significant

more »

... es according to body mass index and body image distortion. Gender, grade, school type, school achievement, economic status, and father's and mother's education levels were found to be significantly related to weight loss behaviors. After controlling general characteristics, body mass index was influenced to weight loss behaviors, and body image distortion partially mediated it (Z = 13.94, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Findings suggest that it is crucial to perceive accurate body weight and to prevent body image distortion for the improvement of healthy weight control behaviors among underweight and normal weight adolescents. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported. 경우가 발생하고 있다. 미국 청소년을 대상으로 진행한 연구[2]에서 전 체 청소년의 11%가 건강하지 못한 체중감량행위를 하고 있었고, 2013 년부터 2015년까지 국민건강영양조사 자료를 바탕으로 진행한 국내연 구[3]에서도 정상체중 청소년의 32%가 체중감량행위를 하고 있는 것 으로 나타났다. 또한 Oh et al. [4]의 연구에서 정상체중 남자 청소년의 40.7%와 여자 청소년의 81.7%가 식사량을 줄이는 체중감량행위를 하 는 것으로 나타나 청소년들의 무분별한 체중조절에 대한 관심이 요구 된다.