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Who's overweight? Comparison of the medical definition and community views
Author(s) -
Donath Susan M
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2000.tb124010.x
Subject(s) - overweight , underweight , body mass index , medicine , demography , gerontology , obesity , public health , nursing , pathology , sociology
Objective To investigate the extent to which people who are medically defined as overweight perceive themselves to be overweight. Design Secondary data analysis of the National Health Survey and the National Nutrition Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 1995. Participants: 10652 people aged 18 years and over (5076 men, 5576 women) in a multistage cluster sample of households throughout Australia. Main outcome measures: Body mass index (BMI) based on measured height and weight; self‐reported perception of body weight (underweight, acceptable weight, or overweight) Results Among people with a measured BMI ≥25, 49.3% of men (95% CI, 48.1%‐50.5%) and 72.0% of women (95% CI, 70.8%‐73.1%) considered themselves overweight. Among those with a measured BMI <25, 3.4% of men (95% CI, 2.8%‐4.1%) and 12.4% of women (95% CI, 11.4%‐13.3%) considered themselves overweight. Older women were less likely to perceive themselves as overweight than younger women. The lowest BMI at which at least half the respondents considered themselves overweight was 26 to <27 for women aged 18‐59 years, and 28 to <29 for older women and men. Conclusion: For many people, particularly men and older women, the meaning of “overweight” differs from the medical definition. Clinical and public health weight reduction programs which do not take this into account are unlikely to be successful.