Introduction
As obesity prevalence has increased, adolescents’ self-perceived body weight might
have shifted accordingly. This study aims to investigate the generational shift in
adolescents’ perception of their body weight.
Methods
We used data from adolescents aged 12–16 years who participated in the National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey in 1988–1994 (early, n=1,720) or 2007–2012 (recent, n=2,518). Self-perceived weight status was assessed by face-to-face interviews, and
BMI z-scores were calculated using directly measured weight and height with the 2000 CDC
Growth Charts as the reference. The analysis was conducted in 2013.
Results
The median BMI z-score of self-perceived overweight adolescents increased from 1.32 (95% CI=1.18,
1.46) among adolescents interviewed early to 1.82 (1.74, 1.90) among adolescents interviewed
recently. After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, sex, and family income, the probability
of self-perceiving as “overweight” declined by 29% for overweight/obese adolescents
interviewed recently (probability ratio [PR]=0.71 [0.62, 0.82]) compared with adolescents
with the same z-scores but interviewed early. The declining tendency of accurately self-perceiving
as overweight was most pronounced among whites (PR=0.64 [0.48, 0.85]), and least among
blacks (PR=0.76 [0.58, 0.99]). Both boys and girls interviewed recently were significantly
less likely to accurately self-perceive as overweight (PR=0.70 [0.56, 0.89] and 0.73
[0.61, 0.87], respectively) compared with their counterparts who were interviewed
early.
Conclusions
Fewer overweight/obese adolescents self-perceived as such in the 2007–2012 survey
compared with the 1988–1994 survey. The declining tendency among overweight or obese
adolescents may be indicative of a generational shift in body weight perceptions.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 06, 2015
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© 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
