Ethnic and sex variations in overweight self-perception: relationship to sedentariness.
OBJECTIVE
With increasing frequency, health promotion messages advocating physical activity are claiming weight loss as a benefit. However, messages promoting physical activity as a weight loss strategy may have limited effectiveness and cross-cultural relevance. We recently found self-perceived overweight to be a more robust correlate of sedentary behavior than BMI in Los Angeles County adults. In this study, we examined ethnic and sex differences in overweight self-perception and their association with sedentariness in this sample.


METHODS
We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses of cross-sectional survey data from a representative sample of Los Angeles County adults.


RESULTS
Women were more likely to perceive themselves to be overweight than men overall (73.2% of overweight/non-obese and 24.1% of average weight women vs. 44.5% of overweight/non-obese and 5.6% of average weight men) and within each ethnic group. African-Americans were least likely (41.3% of overweight/non-obese African-Americans self-identified as overweight) and whites were most likely to consider themselves overweight (60.6% of overweight/non-obese whites self-identified as overweight). Overweight (vs. average weight) self-perception was correlated with sedentariness among average weight adults (45.3% vs. 33.0%, p < 0.001), overweight adults (43.4% vs. 33.6%, p < 0.001), men (average and overweight: 38.4% vs. 27.8%, p < 0.001), overweight whites (41.9% vs. 29.7%, p = 0.0012), and African-Americans and Latinos (41.6% vs. 33.9%, p = 0.005).


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that our society's emphasis on weight loss rather than lifestyle change may inadvertently discourage physical activity adoption/maintenance among non-obese individuals. However, further research is needed, particularly from prospective cohort and intervention studies, to elucidate the relationship between overweight self-perception and healthy lifestyle change.
Yancey
Antronette K
AK
Department of Health Services, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6900, USA. ayancey@ucla.edu
Simon
Paul A
PA
McCarthy
William J
WJ
Lightstone
Amy S
AS
Fielding
Jonathan E
JE
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style / Q000208:ethnology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012649:Self Concept; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D044465:White People