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According to World Health Organization 2020 report, 2 billion adults in the age group of 18 or above were found to be overweight and over 650 million were found to be obese. This epidemic of obesity kills 30 lakh people every year from non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and some cancers. Obesity has become a major health problem of the coming ages in both developed and developing nations and it is important to study risk factors related to obesity. One such risk factor is people’s self-body perceptions as it plays a significant role in leading a healthy lifestyle.
This study aimed to understand: i) the self-body perceptions and misperceptions among individuals aged 18 or above and ii) current perception associated with weight management practices among individuals aged 18 or above. The study assessed perception of the 174 respondents between the age group of 18 and 65 years. The data was collected through a web survey where questions related to their self-reported body perception and weight management practices were asked. Bivariate statistical analysis was carried out to assess the association between the outcome variable, e.g., weight-related ‘Perception’ among individuals aged 18 and above and their background characteristics using chi-squared tests. The two groups, namely normal weight and overweight & obese, were compared with the self-assessed perception of the individuals to generate a new outcome variable, i.e., accurate perceivers and the mis-perceivers. Lastly, logistic regression was carried out to find association between the outcome variable (perception) with other explanatory variables.
The results show that the individuals with normal body weight misperceived about their body weight more than the overweight individuals. Also, females misperceived about their body weight more than the males did. The normal weight misperceivers were found to be more likely to engage in unhealthy weight management practices than normal weight accurate perceivers. Weight misperception were common among normal weight and overweight individuals. Hence, there is a need to develop programmes, campaigns and intervention tools which promote holistic and sustainable health management practices. Also, policies at national level need to be built with a focus to encourage local and seasonal food.
Key Words: Body weight, Obesity, Self-perception, Adult Population, Weight management practices.
