Body Weight Misperception and Dissatisfaction Among Overweight and Obese Adult Nigerians

Abstract

BackgroundThe increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in low- and medium-income countries has a negative impact on overall health. Correct perception of one’s body weight is a step in seeking healthy help toward weight reduction in overweight and obese individuals.ObjectiveThis study was carried out to assess the body weight misperception and dissatisfaction among overweight and obese adults in an urban African setting.MethodsThis study was part of a larger cross-sectional study that was designed to plan an intervention for overweight and obese adults in an urban African setting. For this study, we randomly selected only overweight and obese adults (≥18 years old) who consented to participate in the study from 15 enumeration areas in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria. We followed the World Health Organization guidelines for conducting community surveys in recruiting overweight and obese participants. We assessed body weight perception and dissatisfaction through their responses to the following: “How do you describe your weight?” and “I feel bad about myself because of my weight.” Data for this study were collected between November 2012 and March 2013.ResultsWe recruited 567 participants, of whom more than half (n=304, 53.6%) misperceived their weight as either underweight or normal weight, and 61.2% (n=186) of whom were women. The strength of agreement between the actual body mass index and weight perception was very poor (κ=.032, SE .015, P=.04). The strongest predictor of weight perception was sex (female) with an odds ratio of 1.63 (95% CI 1.13-2.35). About 41.1% (n=233) of the participants were dissatisfied with their weight, of whom 30.0% (n=70) were men. Age (young adult) was a predictor of weight dissatisfaction with an odds ratio of 2.37 (95% CI 1.62-3.46).ConclusionsMore than half of the participants misperceived their body weight as either underweight or normal weight, and the majority of them were women. More men were not happy with their body weight, and participants in the young adult age group were more dissatisfied with their body weight.

Obesity matters but is not perceived: A cross-sectional study on cardiovascular disease risk factors among a population-based probability sample in rural Zambia

“…This age difference may suggest that younger individuals have more opportunities to be aware of their own body weight compared to older individuals [58,59]. However, our finding contradicts with findings in Nigeria, where the underestimation of weight was associated with being in younger age group, female gender, and employment status [57]. Whatever the pattern of association, given the fundamental importance of body weight self-awareness in CVD prevention programs, it is important to understand how such a misperception of body weight arose in the SSA context.…”

“…Very limited opportunities to actually measure body weight might contribute to misperceptions about body weight. Underestimation of body weight has been recently reported in other LMICs such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nigeria [57–59].…”

Body size preferences and food choice among mothers and children in Malawi

“…Mothers who preferred an overweight silhouette for their child said that a larger size shows that the child is healthy and strong. Mothers who wanted their child to have a smaller body size (N = 28) listed foods similar to those who wanted their child to maintain or gain weight, such as porridge (54%); fruit, nsima and fizzy drinks (36%); sweetened yogurt (29%); meat and green leafy vegetables (25%); groundnuts (18%); and milk and rice (14%; was higher than in studies in Nigeria, Kenya, the Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia, some of which included both men and women or only overweight/obese adults (Akindele, Phillips, Igumbor, & Useh, 2017;Devanathan et al, 2013;Ettarh, Van de Vijver, Oti, & Kyobutungi, 2013;Muhihi et al, 2012;Tateyama et al, 2018;Yepes et al, 2015). In the present study, the percentage of women who correctly estimated their current size did not differ significantly by measured weight status, in contrast to some other studies, which found that overweight participants were more likely than normal weight participants to underestimate their weight status (Muhihi et al, 2012;Tateyama et al, 2018).…”

Biocultural determinants of overweight and obesity in the context of nutrition transition in Senegal: a holistic anthropological approach

“…In the context of urbanization in Africa, which is characterized by a rural exodus and intensification of internal migration, new migrants are progressively exposed to NCDs (Oyebode et al, 2015). Nevertheless, their traditional preference for stoutness (overweight/obesity) seems to remain in these obesogenic areas, as observed in Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria (Appiah et al, 2016;Akindele et al, 2017;Cohen et al, 2017). Indeed, the propensity towards stoutness is strengthened during the internal migration, particularly as this paradigm is viewed as a sign of successful integration into the modern urban lifestyle associated with abundance.…”