Duke 2008 | ASHE | Equity and Efficiency in Health and Healthcare

The purpose of this study is to estimate the potential bias found with self reported height and weight measurements found in many surveys. Our study uses a unique sample of freshmen students at the University of Maine. We recently designed and implemented a survey that asks individuals numerous questions about health, wellness and insurance. Our survey asks students to report their height and weight and then these values are also accurately measured. A very interesting preliminary finding shows that smaller women (those with a body fat measurement of 18% or less) tend to over report their weight while those whose body fat is greater than 25% tend to under report their weight. Those who are in between 18% and 25% tend to report their weight accurately. The self reported heights given by women in our survey are consistent with the measurements taken by an athletic trainer. Men, on the other hand, tend to over report their height but report their weight accurately. These results are important since they will allow for an accurate measurement of the extent of any bias that can be potentially found in self reported height and weight measurements. These results are also important in that they demonstrate that there are differences between male and female responses to self reported height and weight measures and they also demonstrate that there are differences in the responses of women depending on where in the weight distribution they are located.