The prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents is rising rapidly in many countries, including Malaysia. This article aims to present the associations between body mass index–based body weight status, body weight perception, and weight control practices among adolescents in Malaysia. The Malaysia School Based Nutrition Survey 2012, which included a body weight perception questionnaire and anthropometric measurements, was conducted on a representative sample of 40 011 students from Standard 4 until Form 5, with a 90.5% response rate. Comparing actual and perceived body weight status, the findings show that 13.8% of adolescents underestimated their weight, 35.0% overestimated, and 51.2% correctly judged their own weight. Significantly more normal weight girls felt they were overweight, whereas significantly more overweight boys perceived themselves as underweight. The overall appropriateness of weight control practices to body weight was 72.6%. Adolescents attempting to lose or gain weight need to have better understanding toward desirable behavioral changes.

The study aimed to determine the associated factors for underweight among children under five years old in Putrajaya, Malaysia. This was a case-control study with a one-to-one ratio matched by sex as well as by three age categories (6‒11 months, 12‒35 months, dan 36‒59 months) between underweight and normal-weight children. There were 364 underweight children and 364 children with normal weight recruited from four government clinics and 118 preschools in Putrajaya. Both groups were assessed via face-to-face interviews; anthropometric measurements; haemoglobin level through finger prick blood sample; and a self-administered 3-day food diary. Underweight is defined as a weight-for-age z score less than -2SD based on World Health Organization (WHO) 2006 Growth Chart. The logistic regression’s final model revealed that various factors were significantly associated with underweight among children under five in Putrajaya. These factors included father being employed as a non-government servant [aOR:1.45 (95% CI:1.04‒2.02) compared to government servant], children from B40 group with a monthly household income less than