The development of a reliable measure of skepticism toward weight loss-related information in the media

A large percentage of individuals, especially college-aged females, are dieting for weight loss at any given time. As such, continued interest exists regarding weight loss plans and products, and the weight-loss market has grown wildly over the past few decades. Unfortunately, much of the weight-loss information found in media today remains unsubstantiated by science and can compete with science-based recommendations for weight loss. It becomes important, then, to better understand consumers' skepticism, or lack thereof, toward weight-loss information in the media to gain insight into who are most likely to fall prey to such potentially spurious claims. Some research exists regarding measurement of skeptical attitudes toward media messaging, in particular advertisement, but no known research has examined skeptical attitudes toward weight loss-related information in the media. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel scale to measure skepticism toward weight-loss information in the media, to examine differences in skepticism by gender, and to test for relationships with potential antecedents of skepticism. An instrument to measure skepticism toward weight-loss information was developed based on a previously published scale measuring advertisement skepticism. After expert review and pilot-testing among college students, the instrument was administered as part of a larger survey among 538 male and female college students ages 17-25 years. This larger survey also included the original advertisement skepticism scale as well as the Rosenberg Self-Esteem instrument and an eating restraint subscale from the Three Factor Inventory. Factor analyses and Cronbach's alpha calculations were conducted to ensure reliability of the newly developed scale. Two-way analyses of variance showed significant differences in skepticism between genders (P = 0.046). Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that skepticism predicted neither dieting for weight loss nor supplement use among college students, but that eating restraint was predictive of dieting and supplement use. These results suggest that the newly developed instrument measuring skepticism toward weight-loss information in the media is a reliable instrument and can be useful in identifying individuals who maintain lower skepticism toward weight-loss information.