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You've heard the saying, "You are what you eat." But, could you also be what you think?

A team of researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have found that normal weight teens who perceive themselves as fat are more likely to grow up to be fat.

Researchers say those perceiving themselves as fat even though they are not may actually cause normal weight children to become overweight as adults.

This is the first study to look at the relationship between perceived weights and actual weights in a longitudinal study of teenagers and young adults.

The results have been published in the Journal of Obesity. 

Researchers say psychosocial stress could be a reason why normal weight teens who think they're fat, actually end up being fat.

"The psychosocial stress related to having (or not having) an ideal body type, along with the perception of oneself as overweight, can result in weight gain," the researchers noted. "Another explanation may be that young people who see themselves as fat often change their eating habits by skipping meals, for example. Research has shown that dropping breakfast can lead to obesity.

Researchers examined results from a survey conducted between 1995 and 1997, which included 1196 normal weight teenagers of both sexes. Participants were later followed up from 2006-2008, when they had grown to be between 24 and 30 years of age.

Half of the participants still had normal weights as adults.

The data showed that 59 per cent of the girls who had felt fat as a teen became overweight in adulthood. In contrast, 31 per cent of the girls who did not consider themselves fat during adolescence were found in the follow-up study to be overweight as measured using BMI.

Normal weight teens who rated themselves as fat in the initial surbey had a BMI in the follow-up surbey that was on average 0.88 higher than those who did not. They were also on average 3.46 cm larger as measured around the waist.

The study also shows that normal weight girls were more likely than boys to rate themselves as overweight: 22 per cent of girls and nine per cent of the boys saw themselves as fat in the first survey.

One explanation for this gender difference may be that the media's focus on looks increasingly targets girls rather than boys.

"Girls thus experience more psychosocial stress to achieve the ideal body," Koenraad Cuypers, a researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, siad. "Society needs to move away from a focus on weight, and instead needs to emphasize healthy eating habits, such as eating regular and varied meals and eating breakfast. Good sleep habits are also an advantage. And by reducing the amount that teens are transported to and from school and recreational activities, teens might also be able to avoid getting a 'commuter belly'."
These kinds of measures can improve overall health, and can also be a help for teens who are in fact overweight, but who believe their weight is normal.

Cuypers believes that the relationship between a perception of being overweight and the development of overweight is something the school system and society as a whole must address in order to reverse the trend and reduce societal problems associated with obesity.

"The weight norms for society must be changed so that young people have a more realistic view of what is normal. In school you should talk to kids about what are normal body shapes, and show that all bodies are beautiful as they are. And, last but not least: The media must cease to emphasize the super model body as the perfect ideal, because it is not." Cuypers says.