Body weight status misperception and its association with weight control behaviours, depressive mood and psychological distress in nulliparous normal-weight young women

BACKGROUND: Understanding body weight status dissatisfaction may be important for understanding weight control behaviours and mental health.

AIMS: To investigate the relationships between body weight status misperceptions in nulliparous normal-weight young women and weight control-related behaviours and mental health.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Body weight perceptions, weight control methods, depressive mood and psychological distress were measured in 717 nulliparous normal-weight women, aged 18-40 years, who participated in the 2007-2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES-IV).

RESULTS: Among 717 participants, 24 subjects (4.1 ± 1.0%) misperceived themselves to be underweight and 295 subjects (39.2 ± 2.2%) misperceived themselves to be overweight. Those with overweight misperceptions were more likely to fail to maintain their targeted body weights, despite weight control efforts (p < 0.001). Weight control behaviours such as taking diet pills were more common among women with overweight misperception (p < 0.001). Compared to the accurate body weight perception group, age-adjusted ORs for depressive mood and psychological distress were 1.82 (1.06-3.13) and 1.65 (1.10-2.47) in the overweight misperception group.

CONCLUSIONS: Body weight status misperception may be important for understanding weight control-related behaviours and psychiatric illness among nulliparous normal-weight young women.