Skip to main content
Log in

Unawareness of weight and height - the effect on self-reported prevalence of overweight in a population-based study

  • Awareness of Weight and Height
  • Published:
JNHA - The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging

Abstract

Objective

Self-reported height and weight are commonly used to estimate body mass index. The present study aims to identify the characteristics of participants who reported not to know their height or weight and to evaluate the consequence of these missing data on the estimates of the prevalence of body mass index categories.

Design and Participants

We evaluated 1492 adults, aged 18–92 years, who were selected using random digit dialling. During a general interview, participants were asked to report their current height and weight and actual anthropometrical measurements were obtained as part of a subsequent physical examination. We classified as unaware subjects who reported not to know their height or weight.

Results

In this sample, 185 (12.4%) subjects reported not to know their height or weight (19.6% of females and 6.3% of males, p<0.001). Women unaware of their weight or height were older, less educated, overweight or obese, never smoker and more frequently reported no regular physical exercise practice. In men, only ex-smokers were significantly less aware of their weight or height. In women, the prevalence of obesity using measured data was 25.3%, decreasing to 22.2% when considering only participants aware of their weight and height. Using self-reported data the obesity prevalence, in females, was 15.0%.

Conclusion

A large proportion of adults, mainly women and older persons, reported not to know their weight and height and the exclusion of those participants results in differential errors depending on the actual values. The exclusion of participants unaware of their weight or height is an additional source of bias that decreases the sensitivity in detecting obesity and underestimates the real problem, namely in the older population.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Yarnell JWG, Patterson CC, Thomas HF, Sweetnam PM. Comparison of weight in middle age, weight at 18 years, and weight change between, in predicting subsequent 14 year mortality and coronary events: Caerphilly Prospective Study. J Epidemiol Community Health 2000;54:344–348.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Tran PD, Leclerc A, Chastang JF, Goldberg M. Regional disparities in cardiovascular risk factors in France: a five-year analysis of the Gazel cohort. Eur J Epidemiol 1998;14:535–543.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Paeratakul S, Lovejoy JC, Ryan DH, Bray GA. The relation of gender, race and socioeconomic status to obesity and obesity comorbidities in a sample of US adults. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2002;26:1205–1210.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Detournay B, Fagnani F Phillippo M, et al. Obesity morbidity and health care costs in France: an analysis of the 1991–1992 Medical Care Household Survey. Int J Obes 2000;24:151–155.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ford ES, Moriarty DG, Zack MM, Mokdad AH, Chapman DP. Self-reported body mass index and health-related quality of life: findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Obes Res 2001;9:21–31.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Reidpath DD, Crawford D, Tilgner L, Gibbons C. Relationship between body mass index and the use of healthcare services in Australia. Obes Res 2002;10:526–531.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Gorber SC, Tremblay M, Moher D, Gorber B. A comparison of direct vs. self-report measures for assessing height, weight and body mass index: a systematic review. Obes Rev 2007;8:307–326.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Field AE, Aneja P, Rosner B. The validity of self-reported weight change among adolescents and young adults. Obesity 2007;15(9):2357–2364.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Larsen JK, Ouwens M, Engels RC, Eisinga R, van Strien T. Validity of self-reported weight and height and predictors of weight bias in female college students. Appetite 2008;50:386–389.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Nawaz H, Chan W, Abdulrahman M, Larson D, Katz DL. Self-reported weight and height: implications for obesity research. Am J Prev Med 2001; 20:294–298.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Ziebland S, Thorogood M, Fuller A, Muir J. Desire for the body normal: body image and discrepancies between self-reported and measured height and weight in a British population. J Epidemiol Community Health 1996; 50: 105–106.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Boström G, Diderichsen F. Socioeconomic differentials in misclassification of height, weight and body mass index based on questionnaire data. Int J Epidemiol 1997;26:860–866.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Kuskowska-Wolk A, Karlsson P, Stolt M, Rössner S. The predictive validity of body mass index based on self-reported weight and height. Int J Obesity 1989;13:441–453.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Spencer EA, Appleby PN, Davey GK, Key TJ. Validity of self-reported height and weight in 4808 EPIC — Oxford participants. Pub Health Nutr 2002; 5: 561–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Rothman KJ, Greenland S, Lash T. Modern epidemiology. 3th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Raven; 2008. p. 137–144.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Ramos E, Lopes C, Barros H. Investigating the effect of nonparticipation using a population-based case-control study on myocardial infarction. Ann Epidemiol 2004;14:437–441.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHush PR. “Mini-mental state”. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psych Res 1975;12:189–198.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Expert Panel on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight in adults. Clinical Guidelines on the identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in adults: Executive Summary. Am J Clin Nutr 1998; 68: 899–917.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Last JM. A dictionary of epidemiology. 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Alvarez-Torices JC, Franch-Nadal J, Alvarez-Guisasola F, et al. Self-reported height and weight and prevalence of obesity. Study in a Spanish population. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1993;17:663–667.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Quiles Izquierdo J, Vioque J. Validity of notified anthropometric data for determining the prevalence of obesity. Med Clin (Barc) 1996; 106: 725–729.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Niedhammer I, Bugel I, Bonenfant S, Goldberg M, Leclerc A. Validity of self-reported weight and height in the French GAZEL cohort. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2000;24:1111–1118.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Ziebland S, Thorogood M, Fuller A, Muir J. Desire for the body normal: body image and discrepancies between self reported and measured height and weight in a British population. J Epidemiol Community Health 1996;50: 105–106.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Bolton-Smith C, Woodward M, Tunstall-Pedoe H, Morrison C. Accuracy of the estimated prevalence of obesity from self reported height and weight in an adult Scottish population. J Epidemiol Community Health 2000; 54: 143–148.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Gallagher D, Visser M, Sepúlveda D, et al. How useful is body mass index for comparison of body fatness across age, sex, and ethnic groups? Am J Epidemiol 1996; 143:228–239.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Madrigal H, Sanchez-Villegas A, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, et al. Underestimation of body mass index through perceived body image as compared to self-reported body mass index in the European Union. Public Health 2000; 114:468–473.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Avila-Funes JA, Gutierrez-Robledo LM, Ponce De Leon RS. Validity of height and weight self-report in Mexican adults: results from the national health and aging study. J Nutr Health Aging 2004;8: 355–361

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Gunnell D, Berney L, Holland P, et al. How accurately are height, weight and leg length reported by the elderly, and how closely are they related to measurements recorded in childhood? Int J Epidemiol 2000;29:456–464.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Sahyoun NR, Maynard LM, Zhang XL, Serdula MK. Factors associated with errors in self-reported height and weight in older adults. J Nutr Health Aging. 2008;12:108–115.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Palta M, Prineas RJ, Berman R, Hannan P. Comparison of self-reported and measured height and weight. Am J Epidemiol 1982;115:223–230.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Lawlor DA, Bedford C, Taylor M, Ebrahim S. Agreement between measured and self-reported weight in older women. Results from the British Women’s Heart and Health Study. Age Ageing 2002;31:169–174.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Ramos.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ramos, E., Lopes, C., Oliveira, A. et al. Unawareness of weight and height - the effect on self-reported prevalence of overweight in a population-based study. J Nutr Health Aging 13, 310–314 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-009-0028-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-009-0028-7

Key words

Navigation