Elsevier

Body Image

Volume 6, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 56-59
Body Image

Brief research report
Self-perceived weight in adolescents: Over-estimation or under-estimation?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2008.08.004Get rights and content

Abstract

Prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide in the past 20 years, but it is not known whether this has resulted in increased numbers of young adults feeling overweight. This study evaluated weight self-perception in a large, multi-ethnic sample of 14–15 years old (n = 4167) in London, UK as part of a longitudinal, school-based study of health behaviours. Weight perceptions were recorded on a simple scale from ‘too thin’ to ‘too fat’. Results indicated that under-estimation was more common than over-estimation, with more than a quarter of overweight or obese adolescents unaware of their excess weight. Under-estimation was greatest among boys and ethnic minorities. It may be timely to reassess weight control advice given to adolescents.

Introduction

Research in the 1970s and 1980s found that more than half of adolescent girls described themselves as ‘too fat’, despite the majority having body weights in the healthy range (Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1998). This evidence of skewed body size perception led to concerns about a rise in the incidence of eating disorders in young people, and efforts began to protect adolescent girls from excessive concern about weight. However, in the intervening years, rates of anorexia nervosa have remained relatively stable (Currin, Schmidt, Treasure, & Jick, 2005) while obesity rates in adolescents have soared (Bundred, Kitchiner, & Buchan, 2001; Lobstein, James, & Cole, 2003; Ogden, Flegal, Carroll, & Johnson, 2002).

Despite the rise in obesity prevalence, results from studies in North America suggest that body dissatisfaction amongst young people may be decreasing (Cash, Morrow, Hrabosky, & Perry, 2004). This downward trend, particularly in overweight adolescents, might be explained in terms of inaccurate body image perceptions among the heavier adolescents. Many overweight and obese adolescents appear to be unaware of their weight problem (Brener, Eaton, Lowry, & McManus, 2004) and there is a suggestion that a similar change may be occurring amongst adolescents in Britain (Viner et al., 2006). In support of this, recent evidence indicates that fewer overweight adults perceive themselves as too heavy compared with less than a decade ago (Johnson, Cooke, Croker & Wardle, 2008).

In this study we assessed body size perceptions in a large, multi-ethnic sample of adolescents to ascertain whether over-estimation or under-estimation of size was more common in this age group, and whether perceptions of overweight varied by gender and ethnicity.

Section snippets

Method

Data for the present study were collected in 2002 from 14 to 15 years old (n = 4167; 2394 boys and 1773 girls) attending 36 randomly selected schools in South London who were taking part in a longitudinal cohort study of adolescent health behaviours (Health and Behaviour in Teenagers; HABITS; see Wardle et al., 2003, for full details). Consent letters were sent to parents explaining the study and giving them the option to exclude their child from the project. Assent was sought from the

Results

Overall, 28% of girls and 22% of boys were categorised as overweight or obese according to IOTF criteria (see Table 1). Other demographic characteristics of the sample are also shown in Table 1. Data on perceived size were available from 4035 participants and 43% of girls and 24% of boys described themselves as ‘too fat’.

Across the whole sample, under-estimation (feeling ‘about right’ or ‘too thin’ while actually in the overweight or obese range) appeared more common than over-estimation

Discussion

We found that 43% of girls and 24% of boys in our sample described themselves as ‘too fat’. This figure is almost identical to the rates of 44% and 25%, respectively, found in a similarly ethnically mixed sample, also recruited from London schools and using the same measure, in 1988 (Wardle & Marsland, 1990).

Weight perceptions also varied by ethnic group, consistent with earlier research (Wardle & Marsland, 1990), although another UK adolescent study found no ethnic differences (Viner et al.,

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by Cancer Research UK and the Department of Health for England.

References (27)

  • T.F. Cash et al.

    How has body image changed? A cross-sectional investigation of college women and men from 1993 to 2001

    Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

    (2004)
  • P. Cheung et al.

    A study on body weight perception and weight control behaviours among overweight adolescents in Hong Kong

    Hong Kong Medical Journal

    (2007)
  • T.J. Cole et al.

    Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: International survey

    British Medical Journal

    (2000)

    • Cited by (38)

    • Perceived current and ideal body size in female undergraduates

      2015, Eating Behaviors
      Citation Excerpt :

      Given the amount of dieting and weight pressure in present Western society, this also seems counterintuitive. It has been consistently shown that a large proportion of females are dissatisfied with their weight and report a desire to be thinner (i.e. Frederick et al., 2007; Hoyt & Kogan, 2002; Lokken et al., 2003; McDonald & Thompson, 1992; Mellor et al., 2010; Muth & Cash, 1997; Paxton & Phythian, 1999; Stanford & McCabe, 2002); however, underestimation of body size has been found in adolescent samples (i.e. Brener et al., 2004; Johnson, Cooke, Croker, & Wardle, 2008; Park, 2011; Standley, Sullivan, & Wardle, 2009), particularly among overweight and obese females. There has been little research regarding actual weight and body size misperception in the adult population.

    • Influence of weight loss therapy programs in body image self-perception in adults with intellectual disabilities

      2014, International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology
      Citation Excerpt :

      These data were consistent with those reported by Napolitano et al. (2010) in individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome. Moreover, if we establish a comparison with studies made in the general population, we found evidence that individuals without ID also tend to make mistakes at estimating body perception, seeing themselves either above or below of what their BMI really shows (Bhuiyan et al., 2003; Cox, Zunker, Wingo, Thomas, & Ard, 2010; Lynch et al., 2009; Miguez et al., 2011; Mikolajczyk et al., 2010; Standley, Sullivan, & Wardle, 2009; Wardle et al., 2006). However, other investigations within the same general population show that people accurately identify their body size compared to BMI (Knight et al., 2009; Madanat et al., 2011; Niccolaou et al., 2008).

    • How adolescent boys perceive their bodies, body parts, and weight: Letting adolescent boys' voices be heard

      2014, Journal of Pediatric Nursing
      Citation Excerpt :

      Boys' answers similarly did not match the measured heights and weights used to calculate BMI. Other investigators have documented that adolescent boys misclassify their own weight status and that underestimation was more common than overestimation (Brener, Eaton, Lowry, & McManus, 2004; Standley, Sullivan, & Wardle, 2009). Therefore, boys' heights and weights should be assessed regularly at routine healthcare visits or in the school setting so that they can be monitored before the problem becomes too great.

    • Large proportions of overweight and obese children, as well as their parents, underestimate children's weight status across Europe. the ENERGY (EuropeaN Energy balance Research to prevent excessive weight Gain among Youth) project

      2015, Public Health Nutrition

    • Association between body weight perception and actual body mass index among adult women in Erbil city, Iraq

      2024, Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition

    • Body image and behavioural and emotional difficulties in German children and adolescents

      2023, BMC Pediatrics
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text
    Copyright © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.