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Do people know whether they are overweight? Concordance of self-reported, interviewer-observed, and measured body size

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate associations among self-reported, interviewer-observed, and measured body size in a healthcare setting.

Methods

A total of 543 adult men and women undergoing colonoscopy were enrolled into a cross-sectional study conducted from 2002 to 2008 at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Outpatient Center. Self-reported and interviewer-observed Stunkard body size figure numbers and measured body mass index (BMI) were collected and evaluated. The body size figures and BMI were categorized as normal weight, overweight, and obese.

Results

Correlation between self-reported and interviewer-observed body size figure numbers (r = 0.62) was lower than the correlation between self-reported (r = 0.72) or interviewer-observed (r = 0.84) body size figure number and BMI. Participants underestimated body size by about one figure compared with the interviewers (mean 0.92 ± 1.25). Agreement on normal weight, overweight, and obese between the interviewer-observed body size figures and BMI categories (kappa = 0.40) was higher than for the self-reported body size figures and BMI categories (kappa = 0.23). Among participants who judged themselves in the normal weight category by the figures, 38 and 13 % were overweight and obese, respectively, as measured by BMI. Among participants who judged themselves overweight by the body size figures, 57 % were obese as measured by BMI.

Conclusions

Although self-reported body size and measured body size were well correlated, participants underestimated their body size in comparison with interviewers. Many individuals misperceive themselves as normal weight when they are overweight or obese by BMI, which may hinder prevention and control efforts.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Room E6132, 615 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Catherine G. Sutcliffe, Kathleen Schultz, Julitta M. Brannock & Elizabeth A. Platz

  2. Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Francis M. Giardiello

  3. Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Francis M. Giardiello & Elizabeth A. Platz

Authors
  1. Catherine G. Sutcliffe
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  2. Kathleen Schultz
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  3. Julitta M. Brannock
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  4. Francis M. Giardiello
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  5. Elizabeth A. Platz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth A. Platz.

Additional information

Catherine G. Sutcliffe and Kathleen Schultz have contributed equally to this work.

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Sutcliffe, C.G., Schultz, K., Brannock, J.M. et al. Do people know whether they are overweight? Concordance of self-reported, interviewer-observed, and measured body size. Cancer Causes Control 26, 91–98 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-014-0487-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-014-0487-y

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