Prevalence and Factors Affecting Body Shape Misperception among Korean Adult Women

Mi Young Chung; Seonho Kim

doi:10.4069/kjwhn.2016.22.3.162

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Chung and Kim: Prevalence and Factors Affecting Body Shape Misperception among Korean Adult Women

Original Article

Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing 2016; 22(3): 162-169.

Published online: 27 September 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2016.22.3.162

Prevalence and Factors Affecting Body Shape Misperception among Korean Adult Women

Mi Young Chung¹, Seonho Kim²

¹Department of Nursing Science, Sunmoon University, Asan, Korea.

²Department of Nursing Science, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.

Corresponding author: Kim, Seonho. Department of Nursing Science, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Korea. Tel: +82-43-249-1824, Fax: +82-43-266-1710, dipperkim@naver.com

Received 30 May 2016 Revised 4 July 2016 Accepted 2 August 2016

(open-access):

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

This study was done to investigate the prevalence and factors affecting body shape misperception among Korean adult women.

Methods

We analyzed raw data from the fourth Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families, for 7,658 women over 20 years of age. For the multiple logistic regression model, the dependent variable was existence of misperception (yes/no).

Results

The prevalence of body shape misperception was 42.6% (overestimation 6.5%, underestimation 36.1%). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that age, education level, marital status, economic status and BMI were significantly associated with body shape underestimation. Education level and BMI were significantly associated with body shape overestimation.

Conclusion

An effective obesity intervention program for women must reflect and monitor body shape perception as well as BMI.

Keywords: Body mass index, Weight perception, Women

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Characteristics and Body Shape Perception of Subjects (N=7,658)

Characteristics	Categories	n (%)
Age (year)	20~39	2,200 (28.7)
	40~59	3,918 (51.2)
	≥60	1,540 (20.1)
Education level (year)	≤6	1,467 (19.1)
	7~12	3,596 (47.0)
	≥13	2,594 (33.9)
Marital status	Non married	802 (10.4)
	Married	5,964 (77.9)
	Others	892 (11.6)
Job	Yes	4,184 (54.6)
Job	No	3,474 (45.4)
Residental area	Metrocity	3,191 (41.7)
	City	3,144 (41.0)
	Rural	1,323 (17.3)
Economic status	High	832 (10.9)
	Middle	4,319 (56.4)
	Low	2,507 (32.7)
Body Mass Index (BMI)	Under weight	459 (6.0)
	Normal weight	4,230 (55.2)
	Overweight	1,566 (20.5)
	Obese	1,403 (18.3)
Body shape perception	Under weight	1,027 (13.4)
	Right weight	4,499 (58.8)
	Slightly obese	1,891 (24.7)
	Obese	241 (3.1)
Body shape misperception	Right perception	4,397 (57.4)
	Under-estimation	2,761 (36.1)
	Over-estimation	500 (6.5)

Data were from 2013 Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families (7,658 women aged 20+).

Table 2

Distribution of Body Shape Perception within Each BMI based Weight Status (N=7,658)

Variables	Body shape perception
	Total	Under weight	Right weight	Slightly obese	Obese
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Under weight (BMI<18.5)	459 (100.0)	315 (68.6)	136 (29.7)	7 (1.5)	1 (0.2)
Normal weight (18.5≤BMI<23.0)	4,230 (100.0)	682 (16.1)	3,208 (75.8)	339 (8.1)	1 (0.0)
Overweight (23.0≤BMI<25.0)	1,566 (100.0)	18 (1.1)	881 (56.3)	651 (41.6)	16 (1.0)
Obese (BMI≥25.0)	1,403 (100.0)	12 (0.9)	274 (19.5)	894 (63.7)	223 (15.9)

BMI=Body mass index.

Table 3

Comparison of Characteristics of Subjects between Right and Misperception of Body Shape (N=7,658)

Characteristics	Categories	MP (n=3,261) vs RP (n=4,397)			UE (n=2,761) vs RP (n=4,397)			OE (n=500) vs RP (n=4,397)
Characteristics	Categories	RP (%)	OE (%)	p	RP (%)	OE (%)	p	RP (%)	OE (%)	p
Age (year)	20~39	68.0	32.0	<.001	76.9	23.1	<.001	85.5	14.5	<.001
	40~59	59.1	40.9		62.4	37.6		92.8	8.2
	≥60	38.0	62.0		38.9	61.1		93.9	6.1
Education level (year)	≤6	37.3	62.7	<.001	38.3	61.1	<.001	93.9	6.1	<.001
	7~12	59.1	40.9		62.1	37.9		92.3	7.7
	≥13	66.5	33.5		74.7	25.3		86.0	14.0
Marital status	Non married	69.8	30.2	<.001	83.2	16.8	<.001	81.3	18.7	<.001
	Married	57.3	42.7		60.8	39.2		91.0	9.0
	Others	46.9	53.1		48.7	51.3		92.7	7.3
Job	Yes	57.5	42.5	.938	61.3	38.7	.892	89.7	10.3	.890
Job	No	57.4	42.6	.938	61.5	38.5	.892	89.9	10.1	.890
Residental area	Metrocity	59.8	40.2	<.001	64.6	35.4	<.001	88.9	11.1	.012
	City	58.4	41.6		62.5	37.5		89.7	10.3
	Rural	49.4	50.6		51.4	48.6		92.8	7.2
Economic status	Upper	57.0	43.0	.015	60.5	39.5	.006	90.6	9.4	.769
	Middle	58.8	41.2		63.0	37.0		89.8	10.2
	Low	55.2	44.8		59.0	41.0		89.5	10.5
Body mass index	Under weight	68.6	31.4	<.001	100	-	<.001	68.6	31.4	<.001
	Normal weight	75.8	24.2		82.5	17.5		90.4	9.6
	Overweight	41.6	58.4		42.0	58.0		97.6	2.4
	Obese	15.9	84.1		15.9	84.1		100.0	-

MP=misperception; RP=right perception; UE=under-estimation; OE=over-estimation.

Table 4

Affecting Factors on Body Shape Misperception (N=7,658)

Characteristics	Categories	UE (n=2,761) vs RP (n=4,397)		OE (n=500) vs RP (n=4,397)
Characteristics	Categories	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI
Age (year)	20~39	1		1
	40~59	1.140	0.961~1.352	0.844	0.662~1.078
	≥60	1.976	1.570~2.485	0.671	0.409~1.101
Education level (year)	≥13	1		1
	7~12	1.023	0.877~1.194	0.768	0.610~0.968
	≤6	1.582	1.262~1.983	0.972	0.597~1.584
Marital status	Non married	1		1
	Married	1.230	0.943~1.604	0.849	0.642~1.121
	Others	1.412	1.024~1.946	0.768	0.479~1.231
Job	Yes	1		1
Job	No	1.034	0.914~1.170	0.923	0.758~1.125
Residental area	Rural	1		1
	City	0.966	0.811~1.151	1.205	0.855~1.698
	Metrocity	0.976	0.814~1.170	1.259	0.892~1.777
Economic status	Low	1		1
	Middle	1.042	0.912~1.191	0.892	0.720~1.105
	High	1.353	1.098~1.668	0.790	0.556~1.124
Body mass index	Normal weight	1		1
	Under weight	-	-	3.696	2.910~4.695
	Overweight	5.842	5.106~6.684	0.252	0.151~0.419
	Obese	21.585	18.228~25.561	-	-

RP=right perception; UE=under-estimation; OE=over-estimation; OR=odds ratio; CI=confidence interval.

Summary Statement

▪ What is already known about this topic?

The misperception of body shape is different depending on gender, age, weight status, a factor harmful to physical and mental health.

▪ What this paper adds?

Age, education level, marital status, economic status and BMI are associated with body shape underestimation. Education level and BMI are associated with body shape overestimation.

▪ Implications for practice, education and/or policy

Identifying ways to correct body shape misperception and provide women with effective policies for maintaining proper weight and obesity management.

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