Young Women In The United States Increasingly Underestimate Their Weight, and Young Women In Korea Overestimate It
Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in body image perception between young women in the United States and Korea. The study was conducted using data from young women aged between 20 and 40 who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999–2018) of the US and Korea. "Overweight" body image perception with normal body weight was considered underestimation. Overweight or obesity with a "normal weight" or "underweight" body image perception is considered as overestimating. The percentage of young women who were overweight or obese was about 60% in the US and about 20% in Korea. Twenty years ago, the percentage of young women who overestimated their weight in the US was 30.3%, before steadily declining. In Korea, it was 25.8% before rising to more than 41.9% in 2008. Of the overweight women, 32.6% in the US and 15.7% in Korea underestimated their weight 20 years ago, but since then, the percentage has gradually increased in the US and declined in Korea. Body image perception differed according to marital status and race. In conclusion, young women in the US tend to underestimate their weight while in Korea they tend to overestimate it.