Concordance of Self-Report and Measured Height and Weight of College Students

Document Type

Abstract

Publication Date

4-2014

Abstract

Objective: The inaccuracy of self-report height (Ht) and weight (Wt) in survey research is frequently cited as a limitation. This study examined associations between 1686 college students’ self-report, via online survey, and Ht and Wt measured in duplicate by trained staff using standard procedures. Participants were 77% White, 62% female, 18-24 yr of age [mean 19.1±1.1], and enrolled at 8 universities. BMI was calculated for self-report and measured Ht and Wt and categorized as normal (18.5 to 24.9) and overweight (蠅25). Concordance of self-report vs. measured BMI classification groups using chi-square revealed 93% were accurate, 4% self-reported normal when actually overweight, and 2.7% self-reported overweight when actually normal. Similar findings were found when stratified by gender, except females were significantly (p = 0.009) more accurate than males (95% vs. 91%). Pearson correlations revealed significant (p < 0.01) associations between self-report and measured Ht and Wt (r = 0.97 for BMI; r = 0.98 for Ht; r = 0.99 for Wt). Findings provide support for the utility of self-report Ht and Wt over other costly and cumbersome observed measurements of college students.

Publication Title

The FASEB Journal

Volume

28

Issue

1, Supplement

First Page

Abstract Number: 1031.9

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