Understanding the Turkish adolescents' weight perception: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Problem Adolescence is regarded as a period in which adolescents go through a number of physical changes in appearance and a transition from childhood to adulthood. Throughout this transitional period, adolescents become more concerned with their size and weight. The aim of this study was to determine the self‐perceived weights status of adolescents 11–19 years old. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted with a sample of 1459 students, aged 11–19 years, in Turkey. Anthropometric measurements of weight and height were measured with appropriate tools and adolescents' self‐perception of weight status was assessed by the Figure Rating Scale. Findings Nearly half of the adolescents had misperceptions about their weight status (49.6%). There was a significant association between body mass index (BMI) z‐score categories and weight status misperception. Overall, the weight status misperception was more common among the girls than boys. Conclusion Misperception of weight status in adolescent should take into account the following: development of intervention programs aimed at screening weight and weight perception, empowering young people to have accurate weight status perception, and raising awareness of the issue in school health professionals.

Weight Misperception is Prevalent Among Turkish Adults and Associated with Higher Age, Body Mass Index and Lower Education Status

“…Although we could not find any related data regarding adults, we have identified a study in Turkey regarding adolescent’s weight perception, which illustrated 50% misperception. 16 Since this data would not be ideal to use for our sampling, we used it for preliminary sample sizing and planned to conduct interim analysis to calculate the misperception rate of adults, which turned out to be much higher (to be discussed in the results section). With a 95% confidence interval and a 5% margin of error, at least 246 participants were calculated to be needed for the study.…”

“… 12–14 Studies about weight misperception illustrate that almost one in two young people perceives their weight inappropriately. 15 , 16 Moreover, weight misperception rates are even higher (72%) among overweight and obese youth. Most importantly, weight misperception was demonstrated to be negatively correlated with weight loss trials among adolescents and youngsters.…”