Perceived Body Weight in Young Adulthood: Gender, Race-ethnicity, Self-rated Health, and Adolescent Adjustment

• In Event: Aging and the Life Course Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): 3: Life Course Experiences and Exposures and Long-Term Health Trajectories

Abstract

This study examines longitudinal trajectories of perceived body weight from adolescence through young adulthood and evaluates how adolescent health and behavioral factors shape these patterns across gender and race-ethnicity. Although prior research links perceived weight to physical and mental health outcomes, less is known about its developmental antecedents. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), we analyze a nationally representative sample of 2,637 men and 2,452 women followed from ages 12–15 in 1997 through ages 18–25. Perceived body weight is categorized as “too high,” “about right,” or “too low,” with consistently positive perceptions serving as the reference trajectory. Descriptive findings show that both men and women increasingly perceive their weight as “too high” between ages 18 and 25, despite similar body mass index (BMI) trends, revealing gender divergence in subjective evaluations. Multivariate logit models identify four trajectory groups: consistently positive, consistently negative, trending negative, and trending positive. Higher BMI at age 18 predicts lower odds of consistently positive perceptions, while better adolescent self-rated health reduces the likelihood of persistently negative trajectories. Sadness or depressive symptoms increase the likelihood of adverse trajectories. Race-ethnic differences are evident, with Black respondents generally less likely to report negative perception trajectories. These findings underscore the life course foundations of perceived weight and their implications for health inequality.

Authors

• C. Andre Christie-Mizell, Vanderbilt University

• Lori Kowaleski-Jones, University of Utah