ArticlePreventing chronic disease2009
Validity of self-reported height, weight, and body mass index: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2006.
Article in Preventing chronic disease, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 184 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
184 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Determinants of maternal and neonatal PFAS concentrations: a review.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2023Pooled it
- Physical activity and gestational weight gain: a systematic review of observational studies.BMC public health · 2022Pooled it
- Neighbourhood retail food outlet access, diet and body mass index in Canada: a systematic review.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2019Pooled it
- Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and child neurodevelopmental outcomes: a meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2018Pooled it
- Methodological quality of behavioural weight loss studies: a systematic review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2016Pooled it
- Job strain and health-related lifestyle: findings from an individual-participant meta-analysis of 118,000 working adults.American journal of public health · 2013Pooled it
- Infancy and Childhood Obesity Grade Predicts Weight Loss in Adulthood: The ONTIME Study.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- Effects of maternal lifestyle interventions on child neurobehavioral development: Follow-up of randomized controlled trials.Scandinavian journal of psychology · 2019Trial
- Educational Interventions to Promote Healthy Nutrition and Physical Activity Among Older Chinese Americans: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.American journal of public health · 2016Trial
- Shape Up Somerville: change in parent body mass indexes during a child-targeted, community-based environmental change intervention.American journal of public health · 2015Trial
- PortionControl@HOME: results of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of a multi-component portion size intervention on portion control behavior and body mass index.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2015Trial
- Longitudinal accuracy of web-based self-reported weights: results from the Hopkins POWER Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2014Trial
- The accuracy of weight reported in a web-based obesity treatment program.Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association · 2011Trial
- Age at First Pregnancy, Adult Weight Gain and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk: The PROCAS Study (United Kingdom).International journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Assessing the validity of self-reported weight, height, and body mass index among hispanic breast cancer survivors.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Neural response to reward as a potential pathway from inflammation to anhedonia in adolescents at risk for depression.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Household Food Insecurity Risk and Weight Status Outcomes in Early Childhood: A Public Health Perspective.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Twenty-Four Month Outcomes From a Real-World Telehealth Obesity Treatment Clinic Using Obesity Medications.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2026Observational
- The accuracy of self-reported height, weight and BMI in a sample of emerging adult college students across California: an observational study.BMC medical research methodology · 2026Observational
- Retrospective cohort study applying membership and utilisation criteria to electronic health records for diabetes incidence estimation in an integrated healthcare delivery system in Southern California.BMJ public health · 2026Article
124 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionOur study extends previous studies that have evaluated the level of bias in self-reported height and weight and corresponding body mass index (BMI). Results are evaluated by age, sex, income, race/ethnicity, and BMI classifications.
methodsAnalyses are based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001-2006. The sample was 8,208 men and 8,606 women aged 16 years or older.
resultsOn average, men overreport their height by 1.22 cm (0.48 in) and their weight by 0.30 kg (0.66 lbs), and women overreport their height by 0.68 cm (0.27 in) and underreport their weight by -1.39 kg (-3.06 lbs). Overreporting of height significantly increases with age after age 50 for men and after age 60 for women. Overreporting of weight in men is significant in the age groups 16 to 49 years and 70 years or older. Women significantly underreport their weight in each age group but more so in the age group 16 to 49 years, followed by 50 to 69 years, and then 70 years or older. Men are more likely than women to think their weight is about right if they are at a normal weight or are overweight or obese, but women are more likely to think their weight is about right if they are underweight.
conclusionMen and women significantly overreport their height, increasingly so at older ages. Men tend to overestimate their weight, but women underreport their weight, more so in younger ages. Corresponding BMI is underestimated, more so for women than for men at each age and increasingly so with older age for both sexes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
19754997PMC2774635What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.