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Many Hong Kong adolescents have distorted body images, with some underweight girls considering themselves overweight while some overweight girls rate themselves mildly underweight according to a research paper published in this month's Hong Kong Medical Journal.
The authors of the paper A study on body weight perception and weight control behaviours among adolescents in Hong Kong surveyed 1132 Form 1 and 3 students in Kwun Tong during the 2003/2004 school year. The students, males and females, were asked to rate themselves as either severely underweight, mildly underweight, normal weight, mildly overweight or severely overweight. Each student�s answers were then compared with his or her body mass index (BMI)--an index calculated from what the students reported as their weights and heights when surveyed.
Of the group surveyed, 14% were classified as overweight or obese. Significantly more boys were overweight (19%) than girls (9%).
When the students� self-ratings were compared with their BMI it was found that the agreement between actual body mass index and perceived weight was poor among the females and fair among males. Only one girl considered herself as �severely underweight� even though 24 girls were in fact in this category. When it came to considering themselves overweight, the girls were even more likely to get it wrong, with 41.2% of the normal weight girls rating themselves as overweight. And 8.3% of severely underweight girls rated themselves as overweight.
Girls who considered themselves overweight, whether rightly or wrongly, were more likely than other girls to show weight control behaviours such as restricting their calorie intake, dieting, exercising, self medicating with 'diet pills' and purging or using laxatives. Boys who considered themselves overweight were also more likely to show weight control behaviours but this usually involved exercising and restricting calories, rather than diet pills, purging and laxatives.
This study shows there is a need for education on what constitutes healthy weight, and healthy growth, and that this is as important as balancing caloric input and output. Promotion of healthy body perception by schools and health organisations is particularly important.
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