Aim: To study how waist circumference (WC) relates to body perception in adolescent girls and to maternal perception of the girl's body size. Methods: Three hundred and four girls, 11-18 years, were measured for height, weight and WC. 294 girls provided self-report data on weight, height and body image before anthropometric measurements. Paired data from 237 girls and mothers on perception of the girls' body size were collected. Results: In girls, self-reported weight indicated awareness of actual body size. The girls' body perception showed an overestimation of body size relative to international reference values for body mass index (BMI) (p < 0.05), but not for WC. Girls' body perception exceeded that of their mothers (p < 0.05). Maternal perception agreed better than the girls' perception with international reference values for BMI (p < 0.05). No significant difference between mothers and girls were found concerning agreement of body perception with international reference values for WC. Conclusion: WC rather than BMI agrees with perception of body size, possibly due to its relation to abdominal fat at different ages. For effective prevention and treatment programmes for weight-related health problems among adolescent girls, we recommend measuring WC to diminish the discrepancy between measured and perceived body size. © 2008 The Author.
CITATION STYLE
Van Vliet, J. S., Kjölhede, E. A., Duchén, K., Räsänen, L., & Nelson, N. (2009). Waist circumference in relation to body perception reported by Finnish adolescent girls and their mothers. Acta Paediatrica, International Journal of Paediatrics, 98(3), 501–506. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2008.01112.x
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