Abstract Objectives:

To estimate the prevalence of the perception of eating more than one should and the associated factors in adolescents, and to analyze differences in dietary indicators according to the perception of overeating.

Methods:

This is a cross-sectional population-based study with a sample of 912 adolescents, participants of a food consumption survey conducted in 2015-2016, in Campinas, SP, Brazil.

Results:

The prevalence of the perception of eating more than one should was 35.0%, and higher in those who declared themselves non-white, those who had excess weight, those who had high waist circumference, those who would like to change their weight, those who did something to lose weight, and those who evaluated themselves as fat. The prevalence rates were also higher in those who perceived the quality of their diet as poor, who had higher frequencies of consumption of sweets, soft drinks, cold meats, and lower frequencies of consumption of fruits, raw vegetables, and breakfast up to three times a week. Among those who considered themselves as overeating, higher intakes of energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat, added sugar, and sodium were observed, and prevalence rates of 38.5% for overweight and 66.2% for obesity were identified.

Conclusion:

The perception of eating more than one should was associated with unhealthy eating practices, the self-assessment of a poor quality diet, dissatisfaction with weight, and inadequate nutritional status. There is a need for further studies to investigate the application of the question "Do you think that you eat more than you should?" as a health behavior indicator.