Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr;94(4):346-356.
doi: 10.1111/josh.13383. Epub 2023 Aug 6.

Associations of Body Mass Index with Self-Rated Health and Weight Perceptions Among Rural Appalachian Adolescent Students

Brittany M Kirkpatrick  1 , Kathleen J Porter  1 , Annie L Reid  1 , Donna Brock  1 , Theresa H Markwalter  1 , Jamie M Zoellner  1
Affiliations

Associations of Body Mass Index with Self-Rated Health and Weight Perceptions Among Rural Appalachian Adolescent Students

Brittany M Kirkpatrick et al. J Sch Health. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Adolescents with overweight or obesity are at greater risk of having physical and psychosocial consequences. With increased disparities and inadequate literature on prevalence of adolescent weight status in rural Appalachia, there is potential for further complications. Unfortunately, adolescent obesity treatment options are often limited, especially in medically underserved regions.

Methods: This cross-sectional study of adolescents at eight rural Appalachian schools examined weight status among and associations between body mass index percentile (BMIp) categories and health-related perceptions and weight-control intentions. Previously validated instruments were utilized. Analyses included independent samples t-tests, ANOVA tests, and chi-squared tests.

Results: Of 814 adolescents (ages 11-13; 55.0% girls), BMIp revealed 20.8% overweight, 22.7% obese, and 10.6% severely obese. Adolescents with higher BMIp categories reported poorer self-rated health, inaccurate weight perceptions, and greater weight loss intentions (all p < .05).

Conclusions: Findings, including high prevalence of adolescents with overweight and obesity, emphasize the need for more obesity prevention and treatment options. Schools may be an ideal setting to reach at-risk adolescents and provide obesity prevention and treatment options, especially in medically underserved regions such as rural Appalachia. Opportunities and challenges to apply findings, including school-based obesity programs, are discussed.

Keywords: adolescents; body mass index; quality of life; rural Appalachia; self-rated health; weight perceptions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

None.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
BMI percentile prevalence within a sample of rural Appalachian adolescent students based on sex (n=814)
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Trends for weight control intentionsa among rural Appalachian adolescent students by sex and weight status (n=810) aIn terms of your weight, which of the following are you currently trying to do?; 1=Lose weight, 2=Gain weight, 3=Stay the same weight
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fryar CD, Carroll MD, Afful J. Prevalence of Overweight, Obesity, and Severe Obesity Among Children and Adolescents Aged 2–19 Years: United States, 1963–1965 Through 2017–2018. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Published December 2020. Updated January 29, 2021. Accessed December 18, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity-child-17-18/obesity-child.htm
    1. Bass R, Eneli I. Severe childhood obesity: an under-recognised and growing health problem. Postgrad Med J. 2015;91(1081):639–645. doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2014-133033 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gordon-Larsen P, The NS, Adair LS. Longitudinal trends in obesity in the United States from adolescence to the third decade of life. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010;18(9):1801–1804. doi:10.1038/oby.2009.451 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jensen MD, Ryan DH, Apovian CM, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and The Obesity Society [published correction appears in Circulation. 2014 Jun 24;129(25 Suppl 2):S139-40]. Circulation. 2014;129(25 Suppl 2):S102–S138. doi:10.1161/01.cir.0000437739.71477.ee - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ra JS, Cho YH. Depression moderates the relationship between body image and health-related quality of life in adolescent girls. J Child Family Stud. 2017;26(7),1799–1807. doi:10.1007/s10826-017-0720-x. - DOI

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources