Objetivo Determinar la concordancia entre la autopercepción de peso y el índice de masa corporal (IMC) en adolescentes estudiantes de Bogotá, Colombia. Métodos Se diseñó un estudio exploratorio en el que participó un grupo de 321 adolescentes estudiantes, entre 12 y 18 años (media=14,6; DE=1,6), 206 mujeres y 115 hombres. Se estimó la concordancia entre autopercepción de peso (0=bajo, 1=adecuado y 2=alto) e IMC con el coeficiente de correlación de Spearman (r s), se esperó un r s mayor de 0,6. Resultados Se encontró que la percepción de peso corporal fue baja en 48 (15,0 %) estudiantes; adecuada, en 228 (71,0 %); y alta, en 45 (14,0 %). Los IMC se observaron entre 14,5 y 29,8, media 20,5 (DE=3,0). En el grupo total se observó r s=0,4; en mujeres, r s=0,5; y en hombres, r s=0,3. Conclusiones La concordancia entre autopercepción de peso e IMC es baja. Estas mediciones no son intercambiables. Futuras investigaciones deben corroborar estos hallazgos.
Objective Determining agreement between adolescent students' self-perceived weight and body mass index (BMI) in Bogotá, Colombia. Method This was exploratory research in which a group of 321 12-18 year-old (mean=14.4; SD=1.6) adolescent students participated: 206 girls and 115 boys. Agreement between self-perceived weight (0=low, 1=adequate and 2=high) and BMI was estimated using Spearman's correlation (r s); the authors' expected r s was higher than 0.6. Results It was found that self-perceived weight was low in 48 students (15.0 %), adequate in 228 (71.0 %) and high in 45 of them (14.0 %). BMI ranged from 14.5 to 29.8 (mean=20.5; SD=3.0). Overall r s was 0.4 amongst boys and girls, 0.5 in girls and 0.3 in boys. Conclusions Agreement was low between the adolescents' self-perceived weight and their actual BMI; these measurements were not interchangeable. Further research is needed to corroborate the findings.
