Differences Between Personal Estimates of Body Fatness and Measures of Body Fatness in 11- and 12-Year-Old Males and Females

This study was designed to assess the accuracy of perceived levels of body fatness as indicated by 11- and 12-year-old children. Using a rating scale ranging from 1 (extremely lean) through 9 (extremely overweight), 50 males and 50 females estimated personal levels of body fatness. Using a 2 × 2 between-and-within-groups ANOVA, these estimates were compared to individual skinfold sum percentile scores derived from comparisons with national skinfold norms. The results revealed that the females tended to overestimate personal levels of body fatness, whereas estimates given by the male subjects were interpreted as not significantly different from skinfold sum percentile scores.