title: Does clinical depression affect the accuracy of self-reported height and weight in obese women?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent research from a self-report survey showed a strong association between obesity and clinical depression in women. The present analysis assessed whether differential bias in self-reports of height and weight as a function of depression influences the apparent strength of the association.
  
  
  METHODS
  Accuracy of self-reported height and weight was assessed in 250 obese (mean BMI=38.7 kg/m(2)) women, 135 of whom met the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for clinical depression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Depressed and non-depressed women underreported their weight by 1.5 and 1.2 kg, respectively. They underreported their height by 0.002 and 0.003 m, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bias in self-reports of body weight and height is similar in depressed and non-depressed obese women. The underreporting of weight in both groups is similar in magnitude to that seen in normal weight women. Thus, using self-reports of height and weight seems unlikely to bias estimates of the association between obesity and clinical depression in women.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. jefferyrw@gmail.com
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Jeffery
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Finch
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Linde
authors.forename: Gregory E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Evette J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Ludman
authors.forename: Belinda H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Operskalski
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rohde
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D012649:Self Concept; D012650:Self Disclosure