Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27134754›Full record

ArticleBMC obesity2016

Weight status misperceptions among UK adults: the use of self-reported vs. measured BMI.

Eric Robinson, Melissa Oldham

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC obesity, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

32 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. 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 · 2018
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Observational
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Weight status underestimation and weight management goals among adults in the rural South of the United States.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Neighborhood Social Environment and Body Mass Index: The Mediating Role of Mental Wellbeing.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Eric RobinsonDepartment of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZA UK.
Melissa OldhamDepartment of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZA UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIt has been suggested that a significant proportion of overweight and obese individuals underestimate their weight status and think of themselves as being a healthier weight status than they are. The present study examines the prevalence of weight status misperceptions in a recent sample of UK adults, and tests whether the use of self-reported BMI biases estimation of weight status misperceptions.

methodsData came from UK adults who took part in the 2013 Health Survey for England. We examined the proportion of overweight vs. normal weight (categorised using self-reported vs. measured BMI) males and females who perceived their weight as being 'about right', as well as how common this perception was among individuals whose waist circumference (WC) placed them at increased risk of ill health.

resultsA large proportion of overweight (according to measured BMI) women (31 %) and men (55 %) perceived their weight as being 'about right' and over half of participants with a WC that placed them at increased risk of future ill health believed their weight was 'about right'. The use of self-reported (vs. measured) BMI resulted in underestimation of the proportion of overweight individuals who identified their weight as 'about right' and overestimation of the number of normal weight individuals believing their weight was 'too heavy'.

conclusionsA large proportion of UK adults who are overweight misperceive their weight status. The use of self-reported BMI data is likely to produce biased estimates of weight status misperceptions. The use of objectively measured BMI is preferable as it will provide more accurate estimates of weight misperception.

Indexed as

Body weight normsPerceived weightSelf-reported BMIWeight misperceptions

Identifiers

PMID27134754
PMCPMC4845432

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.