Volume 10 — December 19, 2013
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Overweight, Obesity, and Perception of Body Image Among Slum Residents in Nairobi, Kenya, 2008–2009
This image-rating scale presents the silhouettes of 18 women and 18 men, arranged in order of increasing body size, from underweight (very thin) to overweight (very obese).
Figure 1. Body image rating scale for men and women. Images 1 through 5 represent people who are underweight, images 6 through 9 represent people of normal weight, images 10 through 13 represent overweight people, and images 14 through18 represent obese people (11).
| Women | Men | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ideal body image | No. (%) | Ideal body image | No. (%) |
| Underweight (n = 115) | Underweight (n = 262) | ||
| Underweight | 17 (15) | Underweight | 20 (8) |
| Normal weight | 55 (48) | Normal weight | 112 (43) |
| Overweight | 31 (27) | Overweight | 84 (32) |
| Obese | 12 (10) | Obese | 46 (18) |
| Normal Weight (n = 1,167) | Normal Weight (1,946) | ||
| Underweight | 93 (8) | Underweight | 129 (7) |
| Normal weight | 660 (57) | Normal weight | 828 (43) |
| Overweight | 256 (22) | Overweight | 602 (31) |
| Obese | 158 (14) | Obese | 387 (20) |
| Overweight (n = 631) | Overweight (n = 401) | ||
| Underweight | 34 (5) | Underweight | 11 (3) |
| Normal weight | 347 (55) | Normal weight | 145 (36) |
| Overweight | 157 (25) | Overweight | 143 (36) |
| Obese | 93 (15) | Obese | 102 (25) |
| Obese (n = 352) | Obese (n = 60) | ||
| Underweight | 16 (5) | Underweight | 2 (3) |
| Normal weight | 147 (42) | Normal weight | 19 (32) |
| Overweight | 118 (34) | Overweight | 25 (42) |
| Obese | 71 (20) | Obese | 14 (23) |
Figure 2. Ideal body image, by current body mass index (BMI)
and sex. Survey participants were asked to indicate the body size they
wished to have.
The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions.
