Public Health Scienes, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, Illinois, USA
Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
BMJ Open. 2024 Mar 8;14(3):e065498. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-065498.
Given the increasing prevalence of obesity and need for effective interventions, there is a growing interest in understanding how an individual's body image can inform obesity prevention and management. This study's objective was to examine the use of silhouette showcards to measure body size perception compared with measured body mass index, and assess body size dissatisfaction, in three different African-origin populations spanning the epidemiological transition. An ancillary objective was to investigate associations between body size perception and dissatisfaction with diabetes and hypertension.
Research visits were completed in local research clinics in respective countries.
Seven hundred and fifty-one African-origin participants from the USA and the Republic of Seychelles (both high-income countries), and Ghana (low/middle-income country).
Silhouette showcards were used to measure perceived body size and body size dissatisfaction. Objectively measured body size was measured using a scale and stadiometer. Diabetes was defined as fasting blood glucose ≥126 mg/dL and hypertension was defined as ≥130 mm Hg/80 mm Hg.
Most women and men from the USA and Seychelles had 'Perceived minus Actual weight status Discrepancy' scores less than 0, meaning they underestimated their actual body size. Similarly, most overweight or obese men and women also underestimated their body size, while normal weight men and women were accurately able to estimate their body size. Finally, participants with diabetes were able to accurately estimate their body size and similarly desired a smaller body size.
This study highlights that overweight and obese women and men from countries spanning the epidemiological transition were unable to accurately perceive their actual body size. Understanding people's perception of their body size is critical to implementing successful obesity prevention programmes across the epidemiological transition.
鉴于肥胖症的患病率不断上升，且需要有效的干预措施，人们越来越关注个体的体像如何为肥胖症的预防和管理提供信息。本研究的目的是检验使用 silhouetteshowcards 来衡量身体大小感知与实际体重指数的对比，并评估三个不同非洲裔人群在经历不同的流行病学转变时的身体大小不满。一个辅助目的是调查身体大小感知与糖尿病和高血压不满之间的关联。
研究访问在各自国家的当地研究诊所进行。
来自美国和塞舌尔共和国（均为高收入国家）以及加纳（中低收入国家）的 751 名非洲裔参与者。
使用 silhouetteshowcards 来衡量感知的身体大小和身体大小不满。使用规模和测高仪来衡量实际的身体大小。糖尿病的定义为空腹血糖≥126mg/dL，高血压的定义为≥130mmHg/80mmHg。
来自美国和塞舌尔的大多数女性和男性的“感知体重与实际体重差异”得分小于 0，这意味着他们低估了自己的实际身体大小。同样，大多数超重或肥胖的男性和女性也低估了自己的身体大小，而正常体重的男性和女性能够准确估计自己的身体大小。最后，患有糖尿病的参与者能够准确估计自己的身体大小，并且同样希望拥有更小的身体。
本研究强调，经历不同流行病学转变的国家的超重和肥胖女性和男性无法准确感知自己的实际身体大小。了解人们对自己身体大小的感知对于在整个流行病学转变过程中实施成功的肥胖预防计划至关重要。
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