Do overweight girls overreport physical activity?

Am J Health Behav. 2008 Sep-Oct;32(5):538-46. doi: 10.5555/ajhb.2008.32.5.538.

Abstract

Objective: To determine if overweight adolescent girls are more likely to overreport physical activity compared to normal-weight girls.

Methods: Participation in physical activities and perceived intensity of activities were assessed from the previous day physical activity recall (PDPAR) in 1021 girls aged 11-14 years old (37% overweight). Daily minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured using accelerometry.

Results: Girls in the "at-risk for overweight" and "overweight" categories had 17.7% and 19.4% fewer minutes of MVPA per block reported on the PDPAR compared to normal-weight girls (P<0.05).

Conclusions: Overweight adolescent girls tend to overreport their total amount of physical activity.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Body Mass Index
  • Child
  • Exercise / physiology
  • Exercise / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mental Recall
  • Monitoring, Physiologic / instrumentation
  • Monitoring, Physiologic / methods
  • Motor Activity*
  • Overweight / psychology*
  • Time Perception
  • United States