Gender differences in factors associated with body weight misperception

Abstract

Objective: Gender analysis in health research is important to strengthen our health system. The current study aimed to explore factors related to body weight misperception in a national sample of the general Korean population. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: South Korea, general population. Participants: 12,900 adults enrolled from the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016–2018). Results: Disadvantageous socio-economic status was considered a predictor of participants’ misperceptions of themselves as being of a healthy weight despite being overweight and as underweight despite being of a healthy weight, mainly in men. Favourable socio-economic status was considered a predictor of participants’ misperceptions of themselves as being of a healthy weight despite being underweight and as overweight despite being of a healthy weight, mainly in women. Living in an urban area was an independent predictor of men’s misperception of themselves as being of a healthy weight despite being overweight and women’s misperception of themselves as being underweight despite being of a healthy weight. Physical inactivity was a predictor of most misperceptions in women. Psychological variables, such as stress and depression, were not significant predictors of misperception. Conclusions: The current study highlighted the gender differences in factors related to body weight misperception. These differences suggested that more sophisticated policies should be formulated to identify solutions to health problems related to body weight.

Awareness of body mass index and its associated factors: A cross‐sectional study

“…An important finding from this study was the relationship between educational levels and BMI awareness. This finding was consistent with previous studies, showing more educated people to be less likely to have weight misperception than their less‐educated peers (Kye & Park, 2021; Park et al, 2019). Because education improves health knowledge, the well‐educated segment of the population could better understand public health messages related to BMI (Colchero et al, 2014; Salcedo et al, 2010).…”

“…The differential in the prevalence of BMI awareness between these two income groups was about 38.6%. Previous studies in Korea and Puerto Rico also found that higher income adults were less likely to have misconception of their body weight compared with their higher income peers (Amaro-Rivera & Carbone, 2020; Kye & Park, 2021). This is perhaps because people in the higher income brackets tend to take better care of their body image (Kye & Park, 2021).…”

“…Considering the findings of previous studies related to body weight perception as well as the availability of data, this study selected respondents' sociodemographic characteristics (age, income, gender, ethnicity, education level, marital status, and employment status) as the independent variables (Amaro‐Rivera & Carbone, 2020; Colchero et al, 2014; Caleyachetty et al, 2016; Jang et al, 2018; Kye & Park, 2021; Park et al, 2019; Sabiston et al, 2019; Wan Abdul Hamed & Abd Aziz, 2020). It is assumed that BMI awareness is closely related to body weight perception because people who are aware of their BMI may not have misperception about their body weight.…”

“…In view of the importance of achieving a healthy body weight, there is a growing body of research that focused on factors associated with the perception of body weight throughout the world (Amaro‐Rivera & Carbone, 2020; Caleyachetty et al, 2016; Colchero et al, 2014; Jang et al, 2018; Kye & Park, 2021; Park et al, 2019; Sabiston et al, 2019; Tebar et al, 2020; Tsuchiya et al, 2019; Wan Abdul Hamed & Abd Aziz, 2020). Most of these studies found significant relationships between sociodemographic factors, such as age, income and education, and body weight perception, but they focused only on developed countries.…”

Trends in Eating Habits and Body Weight Status, Perception Patterns and Management Practices among First-Year Students of Kaunas (Lithuania) Universities, 2000–2017

“…A study that analyzed women body weight ideals in 26 countries showed that exposure to Western media was significantly associated with women’s preference for a thinner figure and body dissatisfaction [ 32 ]. On the contrary, males in our and some other studies believed being of a healthy weight despite having overweight [ 23 , 33 ]. Males strive to be muscular; therefore, they do not see a problem with a heavier body [ 34 ].…”