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. 2015 Jan;23(1):242-7.
doi: 10.1002/oby.20930. Epub 2014 Oct 30.

Physical characteristics associated with weight misperception among overweight and obese men: NHANES 1999-2006

Dwight W Lewis  1 , Gareth R Dutton, Olivia Affuso
Affiliations

Physical characteristics associated with weight misperception among overweight and obese men: NHANES 1999-2006

Dwight W Lewis et al. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2015 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to (1) determine the prevalence of weight misperception among overweight and obese men with total body fat levels ≥ 25%, and (2) examine associations of weight misperception with anthropometric and body composition measures.

Methods: Data came from 4,200 overweight or obese men from the 1999 to 2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Weight misperception was operationalized as having a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-derived total body fat percentage ≥25% and classifying oneself as either "underweight" or "about right weight." Logistic regression was used to determine physical characteristics associated with weight misperception.

Results: Weight misperception was highest among Mexican American (35.9%) followed by Black (30.8%) and White men (22.9%). Physical characteristics (OR, 95% CI) associated with weight misperception were decreased arm fat (0.95, 0.91-0.98), being overweight (9.02, 5.34-15.24), and having a waist circumference ≤ 94 cm (2.31, 1.72-3.09).

Conclusions: Findings suggest that future research should include a measure of adiposity in the operationalization of weight misperception among male populations.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: All authors declared that they do not have any conflict of interests related to content in this manuscript.

Competing Interests: the authors have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Changes in weight misperception prevalence with and without DXA-TBF% in its operationalization
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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