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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Validity and test-retest reliability in assessing current body size with figure drawings in Chinese adolescents
Wing-Sze Lo1, Sai-Yin Ho, Bonny Yee-Man Wong
1School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong SAR, China.
Objective:
The reliability and validity of Stunkard's Figure Rating Scale (FRS) as a measure of current body size (CBS) was established in Western adolescent girls but not in non-Western population. We examined the validity and test-retest reliability of Stunkard's FRS in assessing CBS among Chinese adolescents. Methods. In a school-based survey in Hong Kong, 5666 adolescents (boys: 45.1%; mean age 14.7 years) provided data on self-reported height and weight, CBS, perceived weight status, and health-related quality of life using the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form version 2 (SF-12v2). Height and weight were also objectively measured. Spearman's correlation was used to assess construct validity, concurrent validity and test-retest reliability.
Results:
Convergent and discriminant validity were good: CBS correlated strongly with weight and self-reported/measured BMI, but only weakly with SF-12v2. CBS correlated strongly with perceived weight status, showing concurrent validity. Spearman's correlation (r) for CBS was 0.78 for girls and 0.72 for boys indicating good test-retest reliability. Validity and reliability results did not differ significantly between senior and junior grade adolescents.
Conclusion:
Our findings support the use of Stunkard's FRS to measure body size among Chinese adolescents.
