Effects of Age on Validity of Self-Reported Height, Weight, and Body Mass Index: Findings from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994
Section snippets
Sample Size
National Health and Nutrition Examination surveys are designed to obtain a nationally representative sample of the US civilian, noninstitutionalized population (20). In NHANES III, 11,029 men and 12,229 women aged 20 years and older were selected as potential respondents for the survey (21). Of these individuals, approximately 80% of men (8,816 of 11,029) and 82% of women (10,009 of 12,229) were subsequently examined in the Mobile Examination Center (MEG). A modified home examination was
Height
Pearson correlation (validity) coefficients between measured and self-reported heights were significant (P<.001) for all of age groups within each gender. Correlation coefficients for the older age groups, 70 to 79 and 80 plus years, were less than those of the younger age groups, especially for women, which suggests that self-reported height was less valid in the older subgroups. The correlations ranged from 0.93 for men aged 20 to 29 years to 0.85 for men 80 years old and older. For women,
Discussion
Our analyses clearly demonstrate that age is an important factor in classifying weight, height, BMI, overweight, and obesity from self-reports. The error associated with self-reported height was greatest in the oldest age groups, and overreporting of height with increasing age is consistent with findings of others (11), (12), (13), (15). Overestimation of height by older adults may occur because greater time has elapsed since height was last measured and because height decreases with age (12).
Applications/Conclusions
This article described the direction and magnitude of the reporting error for self-reported height and weight in a representative sample of the general population of adults in the United States. Errors in self-reporting of height are related to a person's age, and unreliability increases directly with age.
■ Whenever possible, dietitians should measure the height and weight of their older adult clients.
■ Practicing dietitians could estimate actual height from self-reported heights of their older
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