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Updated: May 25, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Weight misperception and health risk behaviors among early adolescents
Keryn E Pasch1, Elizabeth G Klein, Melissa N Laska
1University of Texas at Austin, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, Austin, TX, USA. kpasch@mail.utexas.edu
Objectives:
To examine associations between weight misperception and youth health risk and protective factors.
Methods:
Three thousand ten US seventh-graders (72.1% white, mean age: 12.7 years) self-reported height, weight, risk, and protective factors. Analyses were conducted to determine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between weight overestimation and health risk and protective factors.
Results:
Risk and protective factors had significant cross-sectional associations with weight overestimation. However, only depressive symptoms and reduced optimism predicted weight overestimation in eighth grade. Weight overestimation did not predict engagement in risky behaviors.
Conclusions:
Weight overestimation and risk factors appear to co-occur, suggesting a constellation of risk that warrants further research.
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