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Abstract Background Weight misperceptions are common in children and adolescents, which is related to the engagement of weight loss behaviors. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between body weight perception and weight loss behaviors of lower-calorie diets and increased levels of physical activity (PA). Methods The Ningbo Youth Risk Behavior Survey was conducted from 2007 to 2022. A multistage, stratified cluster sampling procedure was utilized to draw target adolescents aged 12 to 18 years participating in each survey wave (2007, 2012, 2017, 2022). Data of anthropometry, weight perception, and weight loss behaviors were collected through self-administered questionnaires. A binary generalized linear model was used to examine associations between body weight perception and weight loss behaviors of lower calorie diets and increased levels of PA. Results The sample sizes for each survey wave were 777, 885, 1588 and 2638. The prevalence of overweight (OW)/obesity (OB), self-perception of OW/OB and overestimated perception increased from 7.6%, 27.0% and 29.1% in 2007 to 16.3%, 39.9% and 41.4% in 2022, respectively. Adolescents that perceived themselves as OW/OB had higher odds of lower-calorie diets (OR: 4.2, 3.3–5.4) and increased level of PA (OR: 3.8, 2.9-5.0), whereas adolescents that perceived themselves as underweight had lower odds of lower-calorie diets (OR: 0.371, 0.253–0.542) and increased levels of PA (OR: 0.381, 0.295–0.559). Conclusion OW, self-perception of OW/OB and overestimated perception were prevalent in Chinese adolescents. Self-perception of OW/OB was positively associated with lower-calorie diets and increased levels of PA. The results can support public health specialists to promote health education of body perception and improve self-esteem in Chinese children and adolescents.

This essay rereads Cormac McCarthy's 1979 novel Suttree as a "blues," examining Suttree's deep relationship to the vengeful, hunted black man Ab Jones, whose scarred body and eloquently articulated narrative of persecution leads Suttree to channel his plaintive suffering. Startlingly, the conclusion of the novel, particularly the final image of the huntsman and hounds who the title character fears are chasing him, suggests that McCarthy draws on Delta bluesman Robert Johnson's most famous tune, "Hellhound on My Trail," in his evocation of these hounds and Suttree's fear of them through his channeling the identity of Johnson (behind whom looms Ab Jones). At the same time, the hounds have figuratively embayed a particular Knoxville populace--its black community--with devastating consequences and the hounds' presence through this lyrical intertext at the end of the novel suggest how that community's inhabitants, particularly Ab, continue to be hunted down by the white community's representatives such as the police. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article delves into the significance of the adjective "plump" in James Joyce's Ulysses, particularly in relation to the character Buck Mulligan and his impact on Stephen Dedalus's artistic and personal development. It analyzes how Joyce employs the motif of "plump" to symbolize Mulligan's mocking and oppressive presence throughout the novel, contrasting it with more positive associations linked to other characters like Molly Bloom.