Do Americans who need help, know they need help: Analysis of obesity and body weight perception through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2005-2006

Background: Since the 1970s, there has been an increase in the prevalence of obesity in the United States (US), which has compromised the quality of life among many Americans. Problem: There are funded obesity interventions that do not match well with the mental perceptions of their target populations. Objective: It is the purpose of this study to examine weight perceptions among differing populations in the US. Methods: Through usage of the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey data, a General Linear Model (GLM) and multinomial logistic regression was performed to investigate associations and differences between ethnicity and race, weight perception, and gender. A convenience sample of 5,789 participants was utilized in the analyses. Results: The post-hoc analysis of the GLM test revealed that there was not a significant difference between the mean Body Mass Indexes (BMIs) of African-Americans (AA) (p = .245) and males (p = .103) participants who classify themselves as overweight and normal weight. When accounting for actual BMI and self-reported BMI, AA (OR = 1.424, 95%CI: 1.396 – 1.452) and males (OR = 2.089, 95%CI: 1.628 – 2.681) were more likely to report that they are of normal weight when they are actually classified as overweight when compared to Caucasians. Discussion: Based upon the results of this study, it would be advisable for health educators to focus their efforts on matching perception with reality as it relates to weight with AA and Males. Further analysis on this phenomenon is needed to confirm the results.