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Weighing Weight: Trends in Body Weight Evaluation Among Young Adults, 1990 and 2005

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Abstract

Given the rising prevalence of overweight and sociocultural portrayal of increasingly thin female body ideals and muscular/lean male body ideals, we examined trends in body weight evaluation using two cross-sectional surveys of US undergraduates in 1990 (n = 794) and 2005 (n = 794). Trends in body weight evaluation variables were examined and compared to respondents’ current body mass index. Results suggest men are increasingly evaluating their weight in a manner reflective of heavier, more muscular societal body ideals. Women are becoming increasingly accurate in evaluating their weight and perception of being overweight is declining. However, the high, stable prevalence of potentially inappropriate weight management behavior among both genders suggests the influence of societal body ideals on behavior remains strong.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Movement Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 455 Enderis Hall, Milwaukee, WI, 53201, USA

    Lori Neighbors

  2. Proctor and Gamble, New York, NY, 10020, USA

    Claudia Liff

  3. Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Jeffery Sobal & Dana Amiraian

Authors
  1. Lori Neighbors
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  2. Jeffery Sobal
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  3. Claudia Liff
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  4. Dana Amiraian
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Correspondence to Lori Neighbors.

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Neighbors, L., Sobal, J., Liff, C. et al. Weighing Weight: Trends in Body Weight Evaluation Among Young Adults, 1990 and 2005. Sex Roles 59, 68–80 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9407-5

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