Accuracy of body weight perception and obesity among Chinese Americans.
Accuracy of body weight perception is an individual's perception of their body weight in comparison with actual body weight and is associated with weight-related behaviors. Chinese Americans have increased risk for obesity but no studies have examined accuracy of body weight perception.



This study was a descriptive and cross-sectional study, which was conducted in a community health center in New York. Study subjects were all Chinese-American adults. Demographic information, accuracy of perception of body weight, anthropometric measures (weight, height, body mass index [BMI], waist circumference [WC], hip circumference [HC], weight to height ratio, weight to hip ratio), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) and obesity-related diseases (hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke) were assessed.



A total of 162 Chinese Americans were recruited. 52 subjects (32%) did not perceive body weight correctly: 32 subjects had underestimation and 20 subjects had overestimation of body weight. Significant differences were found among subjects in the three groups of different accuracy of body weight perception in terms of gender (p=0.003), age (p=0.003), education years (p=0.047), WC (p<0.001), HC (p≤0.001), weight/height ratio (p=0.001), and BMI (p<0.001). Accuracy of perception of body weight significantly predicted WC (p<0.001), HC (p<0.001), weight to height ratio (p=0.001), BMI (p<0.001) and weight (<0.001) even after controlling for all demographic factors.



The study identified that around one-third of Chinese Americans did not perceive their body weight correctly. Intervention studies for obesity management in Chinese Americans should address gender difference, target on older subjects, and focus on educating the normal values and significances of WC, HC and HbA1C among Chinese Americans.
College of Nursing and Public Health, Adelphi University, 1 South Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530, United States.
Shan
S
Liu
College of Nursing, New York University, 433 First Avenue, 4th Floor, Room 426, New York City, NY, United States. Electronic address: mf67@nyu.edu.
Mei R
MR
Fu
School of Nursing, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan, ROC.
Sophia H
SH
Hu
Internal Medicine Office, 43-73 Union Street Suite C-B, Flushing, NY 11355, United States.
Vincent Y
VY
Wang
Department of Medicine, New York Hospital of Queens, 56-45 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11355, United States.
Robert
R
Crupi
College of Nursing, New York University, 433 First Avenue, 4th Floor, Room 426, New York City, NY, United States.
Jeanna M
JM
Qiu
College of Nursing, New York University, 433 First Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10010, United States.
Chuck
C
Cleland
Muriel and Virginia Pless Center for Nursing Research, College of Nursing, New York University, 433 First Avenue, #744, New York, NY 10010, United States.
Gail
G
D'Eramo Melkus
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D055105:Waist Circumference; D065927:Waist-Height Ratio; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio; D014892:Weight Perception
D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin
Accuracy of body weight perception; Chinese American; Obesity