Self-described weight status of Mexican-American adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate Mexican-American adolescents' descriptions of their weight status.


METHODS
Data were from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted in 1982-1983 among Mexican-Americans in five southwestern states. The current study used data on 429 males and 485 non-pregnant females 12-19 years old. In an interview, participants were asked to describe their weight status (underweight, about the right weight, overweight); in an examination (performed two to four weeks after the interview), weights and heights were measured. Each participant's body-mass index (weight/height2) was calculated, and single year of age-and-sex-specific BMI cutoffs were used to determine each participant's BMI decile.


RESULTS
The overweight description was chosen by 46% of females and 23% of males, and the underweight description by 7% of females and 17% of males. The percentage of adolescents self-described as overweight rose with increasing BMI percentile, the rise starting in the 30-39th percentiles for females and in 60-69th percentiles for males.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that many Mexican-American adolescents misperceive their weight status.
Davis
H
H
Division of Health Examination Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, Maryland.
Gergen
P J
PJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology*; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012737:Sex Factors