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Concordance of self‐report and measured height and weight of college students (1031.9)
Author(s) -
ByrdBredbenner Carol,
Quick Virginia,
White Adrienne,
Shoff Suzanne,
Lohse Barbara,
Horacek Tanya,
Kattlemann Kendra,
Phillips Beatrice,
Hoerr Sharon,
Greene Geoffrey
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.1031.9
Subject(s) - overweight , concordance , demography , normal weight , medicine , psychology , gerontology , obesity , sociology
The inaccuracy of self‐report height (Ht) and weight (Wt) in survey research is frequently cited as a limitation. This study examined associations between 1686 college students’ self‐report, via online survey, and Ht and Wt measured in duplicate by trained staff using standard procedures. Participants were 77% White, 62% female, 18‐24 yr of age [mean 19.1±1.1], and enrolled at 8 universities. BMI was calculated for self‐report and measured Ht and Wt and categorized as normal (18.5 to 24.9) and overweight (蠅25). Concordance of self‐report vs. measured BMI classification groups using chi‐square revealed 93% were accurate, 4% self‐reported normal when actually overweight, and 2.7% self‐reported overweight when actually normal. Similar findings were found when stratified by gender, except females were significantly (p = 0.009) more accurate than males (95% vs. 91%). Pearson correlations revealed significant (p < 0.01) associations between self‐report and measured Ht and Wt (r = 0.97 for BMI; r = 0.98 for Ht; r = 0.99 for Wt). Findings provide support for the utility of self‐report Ht and Wt over other costly and cumbersome observed measurements of college students. Grant Funding Source : Supported by USDA National Research Initiative 2005‐35215‐154121541; NIH Grant M01RR10732