Abstract:
This study examined adolescents' reported sexual and dietary health-risk behaviours and
perceptions. Specifically, this study analyzed the data of 600 students (300 male~ 300
female) in grades 9, I 1, and OAC (mean, standard deviation). The mean age of the
students in the sample is 16 with a standard deviation of 1.6. The study was a secondary
analysis ofthe first-year data of a 3-year longitudinal study conducted by Youth Lifestyle
Choices-Community University Research Alliance (YLC-CURA) on adolescents. To
explore sexuality and dietary health, this study purposefully selected sections of the
survey that represented sex and dieting behaviours of adolescents. Separate gender and
age data analyses revealed different patterns among the variables. Specifically., findings
revealed that adolescents who engaged in recent sexual activities were more likely to
have a relatively more positive body image perception and were relatively more likely to
engage in disordered eating. Across both genders and 3 age levels, adolescents reported
that despite their unhealthy dietary habits they felt that dieting was not a high-risk
behaviour. Results were discussed in terms of educational implication for sexual health
programs.
