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Updated: Aug 14, 2026
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Validity of overweight and obesity in a nation based on self-report versus measurement device data
1Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany. ujohn@uni-greifswald.de
Objective:
To analyze overweight and obesity in a nation by self-report (SR) data and by data about the target person provided via other household members compared to measurement devices (MD). The magnitude of hypothesized under-reporting by the SR data should be estimated with adjustment for age, gender, and education.
Design:
Two cross-sectional studies, nationally representative health examination surveys (response rates: 61.4 and 73.2%, respectively).
Setting:
Adult general population of Germany aged 20-79 years.
Subjects:
Sample 1 included 6806 residents. Samples 2 (n=98 673) and 3 (n=34 960) included residents in the second survey.
Measurements:
In sample 1 MD data were collected, in sample 2 SR data were collected, and in sample 3 body weight and height information was provided from another household member living together with the target person.
Results:
MD data revealed higher proportions of overweight and obesity compared to SR. Among women with body mass index (BMI) 35.00 or higher, the odds ratio (OR) was 3.9 (95% confidence interval, CI, 3.2-4.7), and among men 2.8 (CI, 2.2-3.6) for MD versus SR. Data from other household members also revealed higher proportions of overweight and obesity than SR (OR for BMI 35.00 or higher 2.1, CI, 1.7-2.5, for data from other household members versus SR in women and OR 1.3, CI, 1.1-1.5, in men).
Conclusions:
MD data should be used when providing proportions of overweight and obesity in a nation such as Germany.
