Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Perception of Other People’s Body Size in The Multi-Cultural Community Health Assessment Trial (M-CHAT)

Abstract

to believe that 'an obese person needs someone to tell them to lose weight' and that 'an obese person is generally less motivated than a thin person' (p<0.001). Aboriginals (p¼0.009), Chinese (p¼0.014) and South Asians (p<0.001) had a stronger belief than Europeans that 'an obese person has a good chance of changing body weight'. Aboriginals and Chinese were less 'critical of other people's body weight' compared to Europeans (p¼0.010) while South Asians were more 'critical of other people's body weight' compared to Europeans (p¼0.001). Chinese were 'less likely to care about their body weight' compared to their European counterparts (p<0.001). The association of beliefs and attitudes towards others and towards oneself differed across ethnicities. Our results highlight the need to consider ethnic differences in body image perception so that interventions to help promote healthy body weights can be culturally relevant and diverse.