Frequency and accuracy of weight comments by others, and the association with weight misperception among Hong Kong adolescents

Abstract

*Purpose:* To assess the frequency and accuracy of weight comments received from different sources among Chinese adolescents and the relation of weight comments to weight misperception.*Methods:* In the Hong Kong Student Obesity Surveillance (HKSOS) project 2006-07, 22612 form 1 to 7 students (41.5% boys) completed a questionnaire on obesity. Students were asked if they had received serious "too fat" or "too thin" comments over the past 30 days from family members, peers and professionals, and the accuracy of the comments was assessed against the actual weight status. Weight misperception was defined as discordance between the actual and perceived weight status. Logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odd ratios (ORs) for weight misperception by weight comments received.

*Results:*

One in three students received weight comments, most commonly from mother for both "too fat" and "too thin" comments. Health professional was the most accurate source of weight comments, yet less than half the comments were correct. Receiving incorrect weight comments was significantly associated with weight misperception in all sex-weight status sub-groups, particularly among obese girls. In contrast, student who received correct weight comments were less likely to have weight misperception.

*Conclusions:*

Weight comments were commonly received by Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong, yet most of the comments were inaccurate, and such incorrect comments were associated with weight misperception. Family members, peers and professionals should realize the potential adverse effects of their weight comments and adolescents should be taught how to correctly assess their weight status to reduce misperceptions.