ArticleInternational journal of obesity (2005)2016
Helpful or harmful? Prospective association between weight misperception and weight gain among overweight and obese adolescents and young adults.
Article in International journal of obesity (2005), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 2 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.
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Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors Influencing Parents' and Children's Misperception of Children's Weight Status: a Systematic Review of Current Research.Current obesity reports · 2019Pooled it
- A systematic review of the relationship between weight status perceptions and weight loss attempts, strategies, behaviours and outcomes.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2018Pooled it
- BMI Reporting and Accuracy of Child's Weight Perception.Pediatrics · 2022Trial
- Perceived weight status and weight change among a U.S. adult sample.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2017Trial
- Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Between Weight Perception and Cardiometabolic Health Among Adolescents Followed Into Emerging Adulthood.Preventing chronic disease · 2026Article
- The Impact of Adolescent Body Weight Misclassification on Dieting Behaviour From Adolescence to Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2026Article
- Body weight perception and body self-esteem in adolescents with overweight or obesity in Costa Rica: challenges for public health policy.Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health · 2026Article
- Weight Misperception, Weight Dissatisfaction, and Weight Change Among a Swiss Population-Based Adult Sample.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Perceived body size across sex and weight categories and its association with body size dissatisfaction: a cross-sectional study among early primary school children in Norway.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Association between body weight misperception and snacking patterns among adolescents: a population-based cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Weight self-misperception and obesity-related knowledge, attitudes, lifestyle behaviours and cardio-metabolic markers among Chinese school-aged children and adolescents.Public health nutrition · 2023Article
- Body Image and Lifestyle Behaviors in High School Adolescents.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Effect of migrant parents' bodyweight perception on children's body bodyweight: A longitudinal analysis of population cohort study.SSM - population health · 2023Article
- Self-perceived Weight and Mortality in Korean Adults Based on the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Data Linked to Cause of Death Statistics.Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome · 2022Article
- The Association between Body Weight Misclassification in Adolescence and Body Fat and Waist Circumference in Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the weight bias internalization scale.BMC research notes · 2022Article
- Association between bodyweight perception, nutritional status, and weight control practices: A cross-sectional analysis from the Chilean Health Survey 2016-2017.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Views of Own Body Weight and the Perceived Risks of Developing Obesity and NCDs in South African Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Parental perceptions of actual and ideal body weight in early childhood prospectively predict adolescent perceptions of actual and ideal body weight among a low-income population.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2021Article
- Gender differences in factors associated with body weight misperception.Public health nutrition · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectiveWeight misperception is common among adolescents with obesity, but it is not known whether weight perception is related to future weight gain. The objective of the study was to examine the prospective association between accurate weight perception versus weight misperception and weight change among youth who are overweight or obese. SUBJECTS/
methodsUsing a subsample of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health Wave II cohort, we used linear regression modeling (adjusted for age, baseline body mass index (BMI), parental education, household percent federal poverty level, depression, race and ethnicity) to examine the prospective association between weight misperception (that is, perceiving oneself to be under or normal weight) among 2738 overweight and obese youth and subsequent BMI change from Wave II (1996) to Wave IV (2008-2009). Mean age at baseline (Wave II) was 15.9 (0.1).
resultsFifty-seven percent of males and 80% of females accurately perceived themselves as overweight. In fully adjusted models, weight misperception was associated with less BMI gain among youth who were overweight and obese. Specifically, youth who perceived themselves to be at a healthy weight had lower BMI gains (males: β= -1.43, 95% confidence interval (CI)=(-2.26, -0.60), P=0.001; females: β= -1.35, 95% CI=(-2.59, -0.11), P=0.035) from Wave II to IV relative to those who accurately perceived themselves as overweight or obese.
conclusionsContrary to commonly held assumptions, weight misperception among a non-clinical sample of youth who were overweight or obese predicted lower future weight gain. Efficacy of efforts to correct weight misperception should be rigorously examined to assess for both intended and unintended consequences.
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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.