Bodyweight Perceptions And Nutritional Attitudes Of University Of Ghana Students

ABSTRACT

Introduction: An individual’s perception about their bodyweight can either be a true reflection of their body mass index or not. Underestimation or overestimation of one’s bodyweight has been identified to be a determinant of the kind of weight management measure they engage in. The nutritional attitude of such individuals has been observed to be one major weight management measure. The youth are very concerned about their bodyweight hence this study was targeted at finding out how students of the University of Ghana perceived their bodyweight and its relationship with their nutritional attitude.

Method: Quantitative data on socio-demographic characteristics, bodyweight descriptions, nutritional attitude and anthropometry (weight and height) were collected on 392 students of the University of Ghana. Determinants of bodyweight perception were identified in a multinomial logistic regression using Stata version 12.0.

Results: Most (70.9%) students of the University of Ghana accurately perceived their bodyweight. Underestimation of bodyweight was observed in 16% of the participant whiles 14% overestimated their bodyweight. Whiles 74.2% perceived themselves to be normal, 71.4% were actually normal. Participants who attributed reasons for their bodyweight description to comments passed by family and friends were more likely (OR 3.43; 95% CI, -2.28 to 3.77) to perceive themselves as overweight. An individual’s sex (p