An Empirical Analysis of College Students' Perceptions of Their Health and Weight Status

Results from a survey of 441 college students suggest that weight gain rises with age and household income, but falls with household size, race, and number of minutes devoted to exercise. Body mass index was invariant to academic classifications, marital status, and gender. Some of the weight gain may be a function of students' misperceptions about their health and weight. For example, 27.3 percent of students who indicated their weight was about right were obese, and 11 percent who rated themselves as being in excellent health were actually obese