Increasing Effect of Body Weight Perception on Suicidal Ideation Among Young Korean Women: Findings From the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001 and 2005

The prevalence of actual & perceived overweight was examined & the mediating effect of perceived overweight on the relationship between actual overweight & suicide ideation among young Korean women was compared. Data were gathered from the 2001 & 2005 Korean National Health & Nutrition Examination Surveys. Over the 5-year period, & after controlling for covariates, overweight women were more likely to think about suicide than their normal weight counterparts. However, in both periods, the association between overweight & suicide ideation became nonsignificant when perceived weight was considered. In both periods, a self-perception of overweight was associated with an increased risk of suicide ideation, but the association was much stronger in 2005 than in 2001. (16 refs.) JA