The Relationship among BMI, Perceived Weight and Health Status

Jo, Hyunsook

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between BMI, perceived weight and health status of the nursing students by finding the discrepancy between obesity by measuring BMI and students' perception of their weight. METHOD: The data were obtained by a questionnaire from 211 female nursing students of G college, Inchon, Korea, and by measuring their heights and weights. RESULT: The BMI of the 1st grade students(20.74kg/m2) was higher significantly than that of the 3rd grade students(19.65kg/m2). The difference between the obesity by BMI and perceived weight was significant. The concordance rates between obesity by BMI and perceived weight were 22,9%, 59.5%, 90.9% and 50% in underweight, normal, overweight, and obese students respectively. The students perceiving themselves overweight showed higher physical health status significantly than the students perceiving themselves underweight. There was a statistically significant correlation between BMI and physical health of the students.
CONCLUSION
BMI of the nursing students has a significant influence on their physical health. Also there were significant discrepancies between the obesity by BMI and perceived weight.