ABSTRACT BACKGROUND:

Individuals who are overweight or obese often underestimate their size, and they are less likely to consider their weight status to be a health problem and consequently to make lifestyle changes.

OBJECTIVES:

To estimate the proportion of satisfaction with weight among adolescents classified as overweight/obese, according to sociodemographic factors, morbidities and health-related behaviors.

DESIGN AND SETTING:

Cross-sectional population-based study conducted among adolescents aged 10 to 19 years in the city of Campinas (SP), Brazil.

METHODS:

The sample (n = 217) included participants with self-reported weight and height who were classified as overweight or obese, based on body mass index (BMI) according to age-specific cutoff points recommended by the World Health Organization.

Participants whose answer to the question:

"Would you like to gain or lose weight?" was "no" (i.e. no change) were deemed to be satisfied with their body weight. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using logistic regression.

RESULTS:

The proportions of the respondents who were satisfied with their weight were 75.8% (95% CI: 65.3-83.9) among the overweight adolescents and 24.2% (95% CI: 16.1-34.7) among the obese adolescents (P < 0.01). Satisfaction was lower among individuals aged 15 to 19 years (versus 10 to 14 years), those born outside of Campinas (versus in Campinas), those with ≥ 8 household appliances (versus < 8), and those reporting ≥ two health complaints (versus none).

CONCLUSIONS:

More than half of the overweight adolescents and almost a quarter of the obese adolescents were satisfied with their weight. These results support the need for strategies for healthy weight management among Brazilian adolescents.