Motivation and perceived competence for healthy eating and exercise among overweight/obese adolescents in comparison to normal weight adolescents

Table 4 The effect of age, gender, and socioeconomic covariates on controlled motivation and perceived competence for healthy eating

	Normal weight (LSM ± SE)	Overweight + Obese (LSM ± SE)	p-value
Controlled motivation for eating a healthy diet
Unadjusted	17.9 ± 1.5	23.8 ± 1.2	0.002
Age, Gender	18.1 ± 1.5	23.7 ± 1.2	0.004
Age, Gender, Father’s Education	18.7 ± 1.5	24.3 ± 1.3	0.007
Age, Gender, Family Income	18.2 ± 1.6	23.1 ± 1.3	0.02
Perceived competence for eating a healthy diet
Unadjusted	19.6 ± 0.9	22.0 ± 0.7	0.03
Age, Gender	19.5 ± 0.9	22.1 ± 0.7	0.02
Age, Gender, Father’s Education	19.5 ± 0.9	22.2 ± 0.7	0.02
Age, Gender, Family Income	19.1 ± 0.9	22.0 ± 0.8	0.02

Legend: For controlled motivation, female gender had a positive effect, father’s education had a positive association, while age and family income had negative associations. However, the effects of these covariates were not statistically significant, and controlled motivation remained higher in the overweight/obese group after adjustment. For perceived competence for eating a healthy diet, female gender had a negative effect, while age, father’s education, and family income had positive associations. However, the effects of these covariates were not statistically significant, and perceived competence remained higher in the overweight/obese group after adjustment. Data are represented as the least square means (LSM) and standard error (SE) for each group

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