Relationship between perceived and measured body size among Pacific 14-year-olds in Aotearoa|New Zealand: Findings from the Pacific Islands Families Study

Abstract

Aim: Pacific people carry a disproportionate burden of socio-cultural and economic determinants of health in Aotearoa | New Zealand (NZ), and 61.7% of Pacific children aged 0–14 years are overweight or obese. Yet Pacific children's self-perception of their body size is unknown. This population-based study aimed to investigate the concordance between measured and perceived body size in a cohort of Pacific 14-year-olds in NZ, and to assess how this relationship is influenced by their cultural orientation, socio-economic deprivation and degree of recreational internet use. Methods: The Pacific Islands Families Study tracks a cohort of Pacific infants born in the year 2000 at Middlemore Hospital, South Auckland. This study is a nested cross-section of participants at the 14-year postpartum measurement wave. Following strict measurement protocols, body mass index was measured and categorised according to the World Health Organization classifications. Agreement and logistic regression analysis methods were employed. Results: Of 834 participants with valid measures, 3 (0.4%) were measured as being underweight, 183 (21.9%) as normal, 235 (28.2%) as overweight and 413 (49.5%) as obese. Overall, 499 (59.8%) perceived their body size to have a lower classification than that when measured. Neither cultural orientation nor deprivation was significantly related to weight misconception but recreational internet use was, with higher use associated with increased misconception. Conclusions: Improving body size awareness together with the risk of higher recreational internet use is likely to be an important component in any population-based healthy weight intervention formulation for Pacific adolescents.