Psychosocial Predictors of Body Weight Congruence in Adolescents Aged 15 and 17 Years in Poland: Findings from the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) Study.

Magdalena Woynarowska,Anna Dzielska

doi:10.3390/ijerph19042342

Abstract

Background: Body weight congruence (BWC) has implications for adolescent health. The main goal of this study was to examine the distribution of BWC and its relationship with six psychosocial factors. Methods: A representative sample of N = 3508 adolescents aged 15 and 17 years (52.4% girls) derived from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, conducted in 2017/2018 in Poland, was used. BWC groups were defined based on self-reported BMI and subjective assessment of weight: (1) correct perception; (2) overestimation, and (3). underestimation. Principal component analysis (PCA) extracted the following two factors: a socio-relational factor (SR) related to perceived social support and social self-efficacy, and a body attitudes and social media exposure factor (BAME). Using the total sample, multinomial logistic regression was applied to estimate their impact on the BWC, and gender-specific models were compared. Results: Half (48.6%) of the adolescents correctly estimated their body weight, 31.0% overestimated it (girls 43.9%, boys 17.1%), and 20.0% underestimated it (boys 37.2%, girls 9.0%). Overestimation of body weight concerns 48.0% of normal weight girls, 50.0% of underweight girls, and 21.3% and 32.1% of normal weight and underweight boys, respectively. The percentage of normal weight (34.4%), and overweight and obese (30.8%) boys who underestimated their body weight was three times higher than the respective percentages of girls that underestimated their weight (9.0% and 11.9%). The SR factor protected adolescents from both underestimation (only in girls) and overestimation in the total sample (OR 0.74, 95%CI 0.68–0.81) and both genders. BAME increased this risk of overestimation in both genders (OR = 1.83, 95%CI 1.67–2.0), and the risk of underestimation among boys. Conclusions: Prevention programmes should include a wide range of psychosocial factors to improve BWC among adolescents.

Highlights

Introduction iationsWeight perception is a perceptual component of body image that relates to the assessment of body size [1]
Overweight or obesity occurred in 14.8% of adolescents, more than twice as frequently in boys than in girls
The Principal component analysis (PCA) conducted in this study suggests that variables related to social relationships form one factor (SR) and the other three form another factor (BAME)

Summary

Introduction

Weight perception is a perceptual component of body image that relates to the assessment of body size [1]. Body weight congruence (BWC) refers to the correct perception of body weight in comparison with its actual value, while incongruence relates to overestimation or underestimation of one’s own body weight [2]. According to the results of the Health Behaviour in Schoolaged Children (HBSC) study, girls are more likely than boys to consider themselves too fat, whereas boys are more likely than girls to report being too thin [4,5]. Half of the girls who consider themselves too fat are those whose body weight-to-height ratio, according to self-reported BMI, is within the normal range [5].

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