The validity of recalled weight among younger women.

METHOD

The authors compared recalled weight at age 18 and self-reported current height among 118 participants in the Nurses' Health Study II cohort, aged 25-42 years in 1989, with records from physical examinations conducted at college or nursing school entrance.

RESULTS

The correlation between recalled and measured past weight was 0.87 and between reported current height and measured past height was 0.94. Mean body mass index (BMI) values were 21.6 kg/m2 for BMI calculated using recalled weight and 22.1 kg/m2 using weight from medical records; the correlation was 0.84. Participants slightly under-reported weight at age 18 (mean difference = 1.4 kg).

CONCLUSION

The validity of recalled weight at 18 years of age and self-reported height as an estimate of height at age 18 appears to be high among women in this cohort.