J Korean Acad Fam Med.  2003 Mar;24(3):265-270.

A Survey on Perception of Obesity in General Population

• Rhyu M
• Lee SH
• Seo HG
• Park HS

Abstract

BACGROUND: In modern society, thin appearance is treated as ideal, making the majority of the normal weight group think that they are fat. Therefore, exercise and diet, numerous unhealthy methods were frequently chosen by normal weight group for weight control. The authors gave a definition of Ideal Body Weight and attempted to propose a new classification of obesity to the normal weight group who do not view themselves as they should.
METHODS
The test subjects were 261 adults, who visited the IJUH Health Promotion Center between May 15, 2002 and June 30, 2002. After the subjects were measured anthropometric values such as height and weight, the self-recorded questionnaires including 12 questions were collected. The grades of somatotype drawing were 1~9 by BMI. The subjects chose 1 somatotype drawing that was thought to be obese man and woman.
RESULTS
The data were collected from 261 subjects. For female somatotype drawing, 81.7% of the men and 49.1% of the women thought the drawings of normal weight were obese (P <0.001). For male somatotype drawing, 47.7% of the men and 29.3% of the women thought the drawings of normal weight were obese (P <0.01). For women's weights, 81.7% of the men and 82.1% of the women thought the normal weight was obese. For men's weights, 20.3% of the men and 23.6% of the women thought the normal weight was obese. Women thought the normal weight was obese more than in men.
CONCLUSION
Women thought the normal weight was obese more than in men. Many men and women thought below the BMI 25 was obese.

Keyword

obesity; body mass index; perception

MeSH Terms

Adult
Body Mass Index
Classification
Diet
Female
Health Promotion
Humans
Ideal Body Weight
Male
Obesity*
Somatotypes
Weights and Measures
Surveys and Questionnaires