Objective: To establish whether college going males and females having normal body mass index perceive themselves as normal and are satisfied with their body image perception and to know prevalence of the joint pain episodes in them. Materials and Methods: Database was collected from population of 200 people including 100 girls and 100 boys between the age group of 18- 25years of age by stratified purposive random sampling in North Delhi. Subjects were informed about filling up of the questionnaire, they were provided with instruction to fill that on consenting to participate. Results: The frequency of self perception differed significantly (p<0.001) between the two genders. Also, frequency of joint pain episode was significantly (p<0.05) different. Conclusion: It is thus concluded that gender differences related to perceived weight related to BMI are consistent among young adults. Females are most likely to perceive themselves as too fat or little fat while males perceives themselves as too thin or a little thin despite of having a normal BMI. Also frequency of joint pain episodes are higher in females than in males. Findings of present study are expected to contribute to obesity and body image concern research by underscoring the importance of sociocultural influences of shaping realistic body image and having implications for prevention and early intervention for establishing healthy behavior pattern during adolescence.

Keywords: BMI; Body image; Joint pains; Weight perception.