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Abstract
Background: Understanding body weight status dissatisfaction may be important for understanding weight control behaviours and mental health.
Aims: To investigate the relationships between body weight status misperceptions in nulliparous normal-weight young women and weight control-related behaviours and mental health.
Subjects and methods: Body weight perceptions, weight control methods, depressive mood and psychological distress were measured in 717 nulliparous normal-weight women, aged 18–40 years, who participated in the 2007–2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES-IV).
Results: Among 717 participants, 24 subjects (4.1 ± 1.0%) misperceived themselves to be underweight and 295 subjects (39.2 ± 2.2%) misperceived themselves to be overweight. Those with overweight misperceptions were more likely to fail to maintain their targeted body weights, despite weight control efforts (p < 0.001). Weight control behaviours such as taking diet pills were more common among women with overweight misperception (p < 0.001). Compared to the accurate body weight perception group, age-adjusted ORs for depressive mood and psychological distress were 1.82 (1.06–3.13) and 1.65 (1.10–2.47) in the overweight misperception group.
Conclusions: Body weight status misperception may be important for understanding weight control-related behaviours and psychiatric illness among nulliparous normal-weight young women.
Acknowledgements
This research uses data from the 4th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES-IV). No financial support was received for this research.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.