Original articleValidity of self-reported height and weight and predictors of bias in adolescents
Section snippets
Participants
Data were used from the 1998 Welsh sample of the Health Behavior School-Aged Children (HBSC) study [14], [15]. Before data collection, the study procedures were approved by the Health Promotion Division of the Welsh Assembly Government and the World Health Organization for formal endorsement of its conformity with the Organization’s standards for ethical research practices.
A cluster sample of 51 schools represented a national distribution of schools by size, geographic location (stratified by
Results
Descriptive statistics on measured and self-reported weight, height, and BMI are shown in Table 1. Self-reported weight was less than measured weight in girls, t(159) = 4.45, p < .001, but not in boys. There were no differences found between self-reported height and measured height in boys or in girls. BMIs based on self-report data were lower than BMIs based on measured data in both boys (t(140) = 2.18, p = .03) and girls (t(149) = 2.25, p = .03). The degree of self-report bias in weight,
Discussion
Self-reported height and weight can be used to calculate BMI and provide a categorical measure of overweight and obesity using cut-off points in BMI. The goal of this study was to assess the validity of these categoric data as a screen for overweight and obesity and to explore predictors of self-report bias. Despite highly correlated self-reports and body measurements, the screen missed nearly half of all cases of overweight and obesity. The high specificity and low sensitivity of the screen
References (18)
- et al.
Reliability and validity of self-reported height and weight among high school students
J Adolesc Health
(2003) - et al.
A comparison of self-reported and measured height, weight and BMI in Australian adolescents
Aust N Z J Public Health
(2002) Bias in reported body weight as a function of education, occupation, health and weight concern
Addict Behav
(1996)- et al.
Central overweight and obesity in British youth aged 11-16 yearscross sectional surveys of waist circumference
BMJ
(2003) ObesityPreventing and Managing the Global Epidemic
(1998)- et al.
Prevalence of overweight and obese children between 1989 and 1998population based series of cross sectional studies
BMJ
(2001) - et al.
Prevalence and trends in overweight among US children and adolescents, 1999–2000
JAMA
(2002) Health consequences of obesity in youthchildhood predictors of adult disease
Pediatrics
(1998)- et al.
Accuracy of teen and parental reports of obesity and body mass index
Pediatrics
(2000)