[Perception of physical fitness is associated with perception of body weight; sociodemographic analysis in Spain].

Introduction: The objective of this study was to analyse the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics, body weight perception and physical fitness perception.

Methods: Survey by means of personal interview. The sample consisted of 8,594 participants living in Spain between 15 and 97 years of age. Sampling error was ± 1.07%.

Results: Of the people who reported having good or excellent physical fitness, there was a proportionally greater prevalence of males, people aged 15 to 34, people with university studies and people from an upper or very upper social class (P < 0.001). It was also inferred that there was a greater possibility of perceiving deficient or very bad physical fitness in cohorts who felt that they should gain a bit of weight (OR = 2.87), lose a bit of weight (OR = 2.31) or lose a lot of weight (OR = 8.78).

Conclusion: Perception of physical fitness is associated with perception of body weight, independently of people's sociodemographic characteristics.