Accuracy of the estimated prevalence of obesity from self reported height and weight in an adult Scottish population

doi:10.1136/jech.54.2.143

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2000;54:143-148; doi:10.1136/jech.54.2.143

J Epidemiol Community Health 2000;54:143-148 ( February )

Theory and methods

Accuracy of the estimated prevalence of obesity from self reported height and weight in an adult Scottish population Caroline Bolton-Smith^a, Mark Woodward^b, Hugh Tunstall-Pedoe^c, Caroline Morrison^d

^a Nutrition Research Group, Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee DD1 9SY, ^b Department of Applied Statistics, University of Reading, ^c Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, University of Dundee, ^d Greater Glasgow Health Board

Correspondence to: Dr C Bolton-Smith

Accepted for publication 16 September 1999

STUDY OBJECTIVE $---$ To determine whether self reported heights and weights from Scottish adults can provide an accurate assessment of obesityprevalence in thepopulation.
DESIGN $---$ Standardised clinic measurements of weight and height were compared against self reported values on a postal questionnairein the fourth Scottish MONICA cross sectionalstudy.
SETTING $---$ A sex and five year age band stratified random population sample drawn from general practitioner registers in north Glasgowin 1995. Response rate 63% for men and 62% forwomen.
PARTICIPANTS $---$ A total of 865 men and 971 women aged between 25 and 64years.
RESULTS $---$ Men and women under-reported their weight by a mean (SD) of 0.63 (3.45) kg and 0.95 (2.64) kg respectively, and their heightby a mean (SD) of 1.3 (2.50) cm and 1.7 (2.37) cm respectively.Estimated body mass index, BMI (kg/m²) varied from true (measured) BMI by +0.19 (1.40) for men andby +0.17 (1.34) for women. The only age/sex group in which BMIwas under-estimated from self reports (mean 0.2) was the 55-64year old women. Prediction equations that explained 90% (men)and 88% (women) of the difference between self reported and measuredheight included age and self reported weight. The equivalent predictionequations for weight explained 93% of the difference between selfreported and measured weight for men and included smoking anddiabetic status, while for women 96% of the variance was explainedwith no further variables being significant. Sensitivity and specificityfor determining clinical obesity (BMI $>=$ 30) were 83% and 96% respectivelyfor men, and 89% and 97% forwomen.
CONCLUSIONS $---$ This Scottish population was unique in the under-reporting of height as well as weight, which resulted in BMI estimates withlow error. These data suggest that self reported weights and heightswould be satisfactory for the monitoring of obesity prevalenceinScotland.

Keywords: obesity measurement; obesity prevalence; self reports

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