In social sciences, researchers rely on subjective perceptions of obesity measures to examine the determinants of obesity and the likely effects of obesity on health outcomes. However, subjective perception tends to produce estimation biases. In this study, we investigated the misreporting behavior of individuals regarding obesity using waist-to-height ratio as an objective measurement of obesity. Using the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 2008–2011, we showed that false-reporting behavior was significantly associated with socio-economic status. Furthermore, we presented that subjective perception of obesity yielded misleading estimates in both the determinants and the consequences of obesity.
AshwellMHsiehSD (2005) Six reasons why the waist-to-height ratio is a rapid and effective global indicator for health risks of obesity and how its use could simplify the international public health message on obesity. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition56(5): 303–307.
2.
AverettS (2011) Labor market consequences: Employment, wages, disability, and absenteeism. In: CawleyJ (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Obesity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 531–552.
3.
BellJZimmermanFArterburnD, et al. (2011) Health-care expenditures of overweight and obese males and females in the medical expenditures panel survey by age cohort. Obesity19(1): 228–232.
4.
BurkhauserRCawleyJ (2008) Beyond BMI: The value of more accurate measures of fatness and obesity in social science research. Journal of Health Economics27: 519–529.
5.
ButlerJBurkhauserRMitchellJ, et al. (1987) Measurement error in self-reported health variables. Review of Economics and Statistics69: 644–650.
6.
CawleyJ (ed.) (2011) The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Obesity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7.
CawleyJChoiA (2015) Health disparities across education: The role of differential reporting error. NBER Working Paper no. 21317. Available at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w21317
8.
CawleyJMacleanJHammerM, et al. (2015) Reporting error in weight and its implications for bias in economic models. Economics and Human Biology19: 27–44.
9.
DanubioMEMirandaGVinciguerraMG, et al. (2008) Comparison of self-reported and measured height and weight: Implications for obesity research among young adults. Economics and Human Biology6: 181–190.
10.
DixonJ (2010) The effect of obesity on health outcomes. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology316: 104–108.
11.
EtlieFMilcentC (2006) Income-related reporting heterogeneity in self-assessed health: Evidence from France. Health Economics15: 965–981.
12.
FinkelsteinETrogdonJCohenJ, et al. (2009) Annual medical spending attributable to obesity. Health Affairs28(5): w822–w831.
13.
GallantANychkaD (1987) Semi-nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation. Econometrica55(2): 363–390.
14.
GilJMoraT (2011) The determinants of misreporting weight and height: The role of social norms. Economics and Human Biology9: 78–91.
15.
HaunJPatelNFrenchD, et al. (2015) Association between health literacy and medical care costs in an integrated healthcare system: A regional population based study. BMC Health Services Research15: 249–260.
16.
HongSOhHJChoiH, et al. (2011) Characteristics of body fat, body fat percentage and other body composition for Koreans from KNHANES IV. Journal of Korean Medical Science26: 1599–1605.
17.
HowardDGazmararianJParkerR (2005) The impact of low health literacy on the medical costs of Medicare managed care enrollees. The American Journal of Medicine118: 371–377.
18.
HsiehSDYoshinagaHMutoT (2003) Waist-to-height ratio, a simple and practical index for assessing central fat distribution and metabolic risk in Japanese men and women. International Journal of Obesity27: 610–616.
19.
JohnstonDPropperCShieldsM (2009) Comparing subjective and objective measures of health: Evidence from hypertension for the income/health gradient. Journal of Health Economics28: 540–552.
20.
KellyIRMarkowitzS (2009) Incentives in obesity and health insurance. Inquiry46(4): 418–432.
21.
KimSSagongJ (2015) A panel study on the effect of obesity and the chronic diseases on the health care expenditures. Health Policy and Management25(3): 152–161.
22.
KimYMLimHJParkKS (2012) Effects of height and obesity on wage: Gender differences. The Journal of Social Science19(1): 7–37.
23.
KuriyamaS (2006) Impact of overweight and obesity on medical care costs, all-cause mortality, and the risk of cancer in Japan. Journal of Epidemiology16(4): 139–144.
24.
KweonSKimYJangM, et al. (2014) Data resource profile: The Korea national health and nutrition examination survey (KNHANES). International Journal of Epidemiology43: 69–77.
25.
LeeYW (2016) Private health insurance and ex-ante moral hazard in Korea. Journal of Market Economy45(3): 1–33.
26.
LindeboomMvan DoorslaerE (2004) Cut point shifts and index shift in self-reported health. Journal of Health Economics23: 1083–1099.
27.
LucaGD (2008) SNP and SML estimation of univariate and bivariate binary-choice model. The Stata Journal8(2): 190–220.
28.
MackenbachJPLoomanCWNVan der MeerJBW (1996) Differences in the misreporting of chronic conditions, by level of education: The effect of inequalities in prevalence rates. American Journal of Public Health86: 706–711.
29.
Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) (2012) Weight Changes of Koreans: Polarization into Severe Obesity and Underweight. Sejong, South Korea: MOHW.
30.
MusichSMacLeodSBhattaraiG, et al. (2016) The impact of obesity on health care utilization and expenditures in a Medicare supplement population. Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine2: 1–9.
31.
National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) (2016) White Paper on Obesity. Mapo, South Korea: NHIS.
32.
ParkEKimN (2014) Obesity and underweight among Korean women. Health and Welfare Forum213: 91–100.
33.
PuhlRM (2011) Bias, stigma, and discrimination. In: CawleyJ (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Obesity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 553–571.
34.
QinXPanJ (2016) The medical cost attributable to obesity and overweight in China: Estimation based on longitudinal surveys. Health Economics25: 1291–1311.
35.
RowlandM (1990) Self-reported weight and height. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition52(6): 1125–1133.
36.
SeoJImNImJ, et al. (2016) Gender differences in association with socioeconomic status and incidence of metabolic syndrome in Korean adults. Korean Journal of Obesity25(4): 247–254.
37.
TrasandeLChatterjeeS (2009) The impact of obesity on health service utilization and costs in childhood. Obesity17(9): 1749–1754.
38.
YooEG (2016) Waist-to-height ratio as a screening tool for obesity and cardio metabolic risk. Korean Journal of Pediatrics59(11): 425–431.
