University of Illinois researchers have surveyed more than 3,500 college students, finding more than a third of them reported their weight inaccurately. Of the students surveyed, overweight and obese men were most likely to guess low on their weight.
According to Margarita Teran-Garcia, a University of Illinois professor of food science and human nutrition, accepting a weight problem is half of the battle.
“This misperception is important because the first step in dealing with a weight problem is knowing that you have one,” said Teran-Garcia.
This study was conducted as a part of the Up Amigos project, a collaboration between scientists at the University of Illinois and the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potos, Mexico. According to the research, 3,622 Mexican students ranging from 18 to 22 years old underwent physical exams wherein their height, weight, and body mass were measured. This data was measured against surveys completed by the students about the status of their weight.
The results found 33.6% of the college-aged men were overweight obese, though only 16.9% of them reported themselves as such. Women in the same age group were more realistic about their weight. 27.8% of college aged women were reported as overweight or obese, and 21.2% of them reported themselves accurately.
Flavia Cristina Drumond Andrade, one of the researchers involved in this study, reported heavier students were less likely to estimate their weight correctly. Teran-Garcia says this study proves identifying weight problems early can affect ones health later in life.
In a press release announcing the study, Teran-Garcia said, “If these young people follow the wrong trajectory, continuing to accumulate weight, they are likely to develop heart disease and diabetes. It´s much better if they deal straightforwardly with the fact that they´re gaining weight while they´re young.”
Teran-Garcia and her team are focusing on Latino students.
According to Teran-Garcia. Mexico has the highest rates of diabetes and obesity in the world. As the Latino population grows and moves to the United States, their weight problems and cultural issues move with them.
The 18 to 22 year olds studied in this research are at a prime age for both education and intervention, according to Teran-Garcia. “In Hispanic culture, young people often become parents in their early to mid-twenties. When women are at healthy weights, they have healthier pregnancies. When a pregnant woman is obese, there are long-term consequences for the baby.”
While this study proves the differences in weight documented and weight reported in Latino students, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and International Journal of Pediatric Obesity say American teens are even less likely to accurately report their weight.
While there were only a few students to overestimate their weight in the study, those who did were more often younger females with less-educated parents. Researchers worry about these students, as females who think they weigh more than they do have an increased risk for developing anorexia or bulimia. Some of these students will have to undergo the physical exams once more, as Teran-Garcia and her team plan to follow these students for the next few years.
“We will be able to follow many of these students for some time. We expect to have an exit interview with at least a third of our study participants when they leave college,” Andrade said.
The study appeared in a recent issue of Body Image. Co-authors are Flavia Cristina Drumond Andrade, Marcela Raffaelli, and Jilber A. Jerman of the U of I, Celia Aradillas Garcia of the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potos in Mexico, and the Up Amigos 2009 study group.
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