Cross-sectional study of the differences between measured, perceived and desired body size and their relations with self-perceived health in young adults: The Tromsø Study – Fit Futures 2
Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between measured body size (body mass index (BMI)), perceived body size, weight change wishes and self-perceived health in young adults. Methods: The participants were recruited from a school-based population study in Norway, the Tromsø St...
Published in: | Scandinavian Journal of Public Health |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1403494817690941 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1403494817690941 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/1403494817690941 |
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crsagepubl:10.1177/1403494817690941 2024-09-09T20:12:03+00:00 Cross-sectional study of the differences between measured, perceived and desired body size and their relations with self-perceived health in young adults: The Tromsø Study – Fit Futures 2 Sand, Anne-Sofie Furberg, Anne-Sofie Lian, Olaug S. Nielsen, Christopher S. Pettersen, Gunn Winther, Anne Emaus, Nina The Northern Norway Regional Health Authority 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1403494817690941 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1403494817690941 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/1403494817690941 en eng SAGE Publications http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license Scandinavian Journal of Public Health volume 45, issue 3, page 322-330 ISSN 1403-4948 1651-1905 journal-article 2017 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494817690941 2024-06-17T04:23:40Z Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between measured body size (body mass index (BMI)), perceived body size, weight change wishes and self-perceived health in young adults. Methods: The participants were recruited from a school-based population study in Norway, the Tromsø Study: Fit Futures 2, carried out in 2012–2013. A total of 629 young women and men (aged 18–23 years) reported on the main variables. The data were collected through weight and height measurements and questionnaires. The analyses were performed with descriptive statistics, the χ 2 test and Student’s t-test. Results: A total of 20% of the women and 28% of the men were overweight or obese. There were considerable discrepancies between the measured BMI and perceived body size in both sexes. A substantial number of participants wanted to change their weight. Among the 174 women who reported that they were trying to lose weight, as many as 57 (32.8%) had a low normal weight (BMI 18.5–21.9 kg/m 2 ). Correspondingly, among the 66 men who reported that they wanted to gain weight, as many as 19 (28.8%) had a high normal weight (BMI 22–24.9 kg/m 2 ). We found no relation between body size perceptions, weight change wishes and self-perceived health. Conclusions: Discrepancies between measured and perceived body size and weight change wishes are common findings in young adults. The lack of relation with self-perceived health found in our study is surprising and not easy to interpret. To gain more knowledge about these matters, further research, including both qualitative and quantitative studies, is needed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tromsø SAGE Publications Norway Tromsø Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 45 3 322 330 |
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Open Polar |
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SAGE Publications |
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crsagepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between measured body size (body mass index (BMI)), perceived body size, weight change wishes and self-perceived health in young adults. Methods: The participants were recruited from a school-based population study in Norway, the Tromsø Study: Fit Futures 2, carried out in 2012–2013. A total of 629 young women and men (aged 18–23 years) reported on the main variables. The data were collected through weight and height measurements and questionnaires. The analyses were performed with descriptive statistics, the χ 2 test and Student’s t-test. Results: A total of 20% of the women and 28% of the men were overweight or obese. There were considerable discrepancies between the measured BMI and perceived body size in both sexes. A substantial number of participants wanted to change their weight. Among the 174 women who reported that they were trying to lose weight, as many as 57 (32.8%) had a low normal weight (BMI 18.5–21.9 kg/m 2 ). Correspondingly, among the 66 men who reported that they wanted to gain weight, as many as 19 (28.8%) had a high normal weight (BMI 22–24.9 kg/m 2 ). We found no relation between body size perceptions, weight change wishes and self-perceived health. Conclusions: Discrepancies between measured and perceived body size and weight change wishes are common findings in young adults. The lack of relation with self-perceived health found in our study is surprising and not easy to interpret. To gain more knowledge about these matters, further research, including both qualitative and quantitative studies, is needed. |
author2 |
The Northern Norway Regional Health Authority |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sand, Anne-Sofie Furberg, Anne-Sofie Lian, Olaug S. Nielsen, Christopher S. Pettersen, Gunn Winther, Anne Emaus, Nina |
spellingShingle |
Sand, Anne-Sofie Furberg, Anne-Sofie Lian, Olaug S. Nielsen, Christopher S. Pettersen, Gunn Winther, Anne Emaus, Nina Cross-sectional study of the differences between measured, perceived and desired body size and their relations with self-perceived health in young adults: The Tromsø Study – Fit Futures 2 |
author_facet |
Sand, Anne-Sofie Furberg, Anne-Sofie Lian, Olaug S. Nielsen, Christopher S. Pettersen, Gunn Winther, Anne Emaus, Nina |
author_sort |
Sand, Anne-Sofie |
title |
Cross-sectional study of the differences between measured, perceived and desired body size and their relations with self-perceived health in young adults: The Tromsø Study – Fit Futures 2 |
title_short |
Cross-sectional study of the differences between measured, perceived and desired body size and their relations with self-perceived health in young adults: The Tromsø Study – Fit Futures 2 |
title_full |
Cross-sectional study of the differences between measured, perceived and desired body size and their relations with self-perceived health in young adults: The Tromsø Study – Fit Futures 2 |
title_fullStr |
Cross-sectional study of the differences between measured, perceived and desired body size and their relations with self-perceived health in young adults: The Tromsø Study – Fit Futures 2 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cross-sectional study of the differences between measured, perceived and desired body size and their relations with self-perceived health in young adults: The Tromsø Study – Fit Futures 2 |
title_sort |
cross-sectional study of the differences between measured, perceived and desired body size and their relations with self-perceived health in young adults: the tromsø study – fit futures 2 |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1403494817690941 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1403494817690941 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/1403494817690941 |
geographic |
Norway Tromsø |
geographic_facet |
Norway Tromsø |
genre |
Tromsø |
genre_facet |
Tromsø |
op_source |
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health volume 45, issue 3, page 322-330 ISSN 1403-4948 1651-1905 |
op_rights |
http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494817690941 |
container_title |
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health |
container_volume |
45 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
322 |
op_container_end_page |
330 |
_version_ |
1809946636817793024 |