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Abstract

The objective of this study is self-recorded BMI among 20-year-old female students in the context of their physical activity, weight, body height, parent’s education and the time factor. Statistical analysis of the data was based on anthropometric measurements and a survey conducted among female students (N = 1,394) from the first year of full-time studies at the Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport (AWFiS) in the years 2003–2010. The relationship between variables and logistic models was analyzed (Student’s test, Duncan’s test, analysis of variance, logistic regression). Statistical analysis was conducted using Statistica 6.0 software. At the background of the research results it may be claimed that incorrect self-reported BMI favors sport (OR = 0.71), father’s elementary or basic vocational education (OR = 1.44), higher weight (OR = 0.90) and BMI (OR = 0.76) and lower height (OR = 1.07). 29.77% women did not evaluate their BMI correctly during the whole 8-year research process. The correct BMI was reported by 70.23% of the students; 26.76% overestimated their BMI and 3.01% underestimated it. A high percentage of women who practice sport and who incorrectly determined their own BMI (31.25%) is disquieting, including 8.82% of the students who underestimated their BMI, and 91.18% who overestimated it. Failure to correctly evaluate BMI may lead to nutrition disorders, low self-esteem and serious health consequences. It is reasonable to develop regular and skillful evaluation of BMI among young people by institutions and people involved in health promotion.

DOI

10.29359/BJHPA.09.1.06

Author ORCID Identifier

Ewa Wojtowicz https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5917-908X; Barbara Duda-Biernacka https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2388-2264

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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