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Ideals versus reality: Are weight ideals associated with weight change in the population?
Author(s) -
Kärkkäinen Ulla,
Mustelin Linda,
Raevuori Anu,
Kaprio Jaakko,
KeskiRahkonen Anna
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1002/oby.21417
Subject(s) - weight change , medicine , population , body weight , body mass index , weight gain , demography , ideal (ethics) , weight loss , mathematics , obesity , philosophy , environmental health , epistemology , sociology
Objective To quantify weight ideals of young adults and to examine whether the discrepancy between actual and ideal weight is associated with 10‐year body mass index (BMI) change in the population. Methods This study comprised 4,964 adults from the prospective population‐based FinnTwin16 study. They reported their actual and ideal body weight at age 24 (range 22‐27) and 10 years later (attrition 24.6%). The correlates of discrepancy between actual and ideal body weight and the impact on subsequent BMI change were examined. Results The discrepancy between actual and ideal weight at 24 years was on average 3.9 kg (1.4 kg/m 2 ) among women and 1.2 kg (0.4 kg/m 2 ) among men. On average, participants gained weight during follow‐up irrespective of baseline ideal weight: women ¯x = +4.8 kg (1.7 kg/m 2 , 95% CI 1.6‐1.9 kg/m 2 ), men ¯x = +6.3 kg (2.0 kg/m 2 , 95% CI 1.8‐2.1 kg/m 2 ). Weight ideals at 24 years were not correlated with 10‐year weight change. At 34 years, just 13.2% of women and 18.9% of men were at or below the weight they had specified as their ideal weight at 24 years. Women and men adjusted their ideal weight upward over time. C onclusions : Irrespective of ideal weight at baseline, weight gain was nearly universal. Weight ideals were shifted upward over time.