Perceived size of friends and weight evaluation among low-income adolescents

Abstract

Drawing from social comparison theory, we examine how perceptions of friends’ body sizes may influence adolescents’ subjective evaluations of their own body (e.g., how accurate they are in judging their weight, how much body dissatisfaction they feel), particularly for adolescent females. Participants were low-income, minority adolescents (Study 1: N = 194 females, Mean age = 15.4; Study 2: N = 409 males and females; Mean age = 14.9). Adolescents used figure rating scales to indicate their perceived size and that of four of their closest friends and completed several measures of subjective weight evaluation (e.g., weight classification, body dissatisfaction, internalized weight bias). In both studies, how adolescents perceived their body size and the body sizes of their thinnest and heaviest friends were positively correlated. In Study 1, overweight females based on measured BMI were less likely to accurately judge themselves as overweight if they had a close friend they perceived as heavy. In addition, females who viewed themselves as having a larger figure reported more internalized weight bias when they had friends they viewed as relatively thin. Findings from Study 2 suggest that how friends’ bodies are perceived is predictive of subjective weight evaluation measures only for adolescent females. Programs that address negative aspects of social comparison may be important in preventing both obesity and eating disorder symptoms in adolescent females.

Overweight or about right? A norm comparison explanation of perceived weight status

“…Increases in obesity may have altered body‐weight norms and resulted in larger sized bodies appearing more normal, which in turn has increased underestimation of weight status. This perspective is in line with the observation that people who are more frequently exposed to heavier body weights are particularly likely to underestimate their weight status . Although the proposal that personal perceptions of weight status are influenced by body‐weight norms has been suggested by a number of researchers , there has been no direct testing of this hypothesis.…”

“…This perspective is in line with the observation that people who are more frequently exposed to heavier body weights are particularly likely to underestimate their weight status . Although the proposal that personal perceptions of weight status are influenced by body‐weight norms has been suggested by a number of researchers , there has been no direct testing of this hypothesis. In addition, there have been few examinations of the psychological processes that influence personal perceptions of weight status.…”

Self‐perception of overweight and obesity: A review of mental and physical health outcomes

“…In support of the normalization hypothesis, studies have shown that personal underestimation of weight status has increased as obesity has become more common 17,18 . Likewise, not identifying oneself as having overweight has been shown to be more common among people with more social contacts who are of heavier body weight 19,20 …”

“…17,18 Likewise, not identifying oneself as having overweight has been shown to be more common among people with more social contacts who are of heavier body weight. 19,20 There is an extensive body of research on body image and heavier body weight. 21 Of most relevance to perceptions of weight status, it has been shown that large numbers of people with overweight or obesity do not accurately identify their weight status and this has been described as a major public health concern and barrier to successful weight management.…”

Overweight but unseen: a review of the underestimation of weight status and a visual normalization theory

“…Among school children, the likelihood that a child fails to identify his or her own overweight or obese status is greater if a large number of his or her classmates are obese 58. In a similar vein, overweight adolescents who report having larger friends are more likely to underestimate their weight status than those who report belonging to slimmer friendship networks 59. Likewise, being exposed to parents and/or peers of heavier body weight has been shown to be associated with a greater likelihood that children or adolescents fail to accurately identify that they themselves are overweight 19, 60.…”