people who are obese don't always know it

[Amby 490]

Some obese individuals don't realize they have a weight problem, a new study finds. That could be an unhealthy attitude as these same people tend not to exercise and have many risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

The study, based on survey data collected in Dallas, found that one in 10 participants — all of whom were classified as obese — were satisfied with their body size and didn't think they needed to lose a few.

"That is a sizeable percentage who don't understand they are overweight and believe they are healthy," said lead researcher Tiffany Powell, a cardiology fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Either way, obesity packs many negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Powell will present the results today at a meeting for the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla.

She notes the study results are limited in that they don't show causality between such misperceptions of body size and unhealthy behaviors.

Sizing up

In the study, Powell and her colleagues focused on 2,056 individuals who were obese and took part in the Dallas Heart Study. They had an average age of about 40.

Participants looked at nine sex-specific figures (outlines of bodies, with the first showing the slimmest figure and increasing up to the ninth and largest) and chose what they thought they looked like and their ideal figure.

Studies on Caucasians have shown a score of 4 is lean, while a 6 indicates a body mass index, or BMI, of 30. (BMI is calculated from a person's weight and height and indicates body fatness and weight categories that may lead to health problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A score of 30 or above is considered obese; 25 to 29.9 overweight; 18.5 to 24.9 normal; and below 18.5 is considered underweight.)

About 8 percent of the obese participants indicated they thought their body size was smaller than reality. Such individuals, considered to have body-size misperceptions, said they thought their bodies looked like a 4 on the figure scale on average, with an ideal body size of about 5. Other participants were more on target, choosing an average of 6 for current body size and just under a 4 for ideal.

In reality, participants who were unaware they were obese had an average BMI of nearly 35, while the others had a BMI of nearly 37.

Health costs

Those with a misperception of body size believed they were healthy. But 35 percent of them had high blood pressure, 15 percent had high cholesterol, 14 percent had diabetes and 27 percent were current smokers. These numbers are similar to those found for obese individuals who acknowledged they had a weight problem, Powell said.

If both groups of obese participants have health risks, why does it matter whether they know it or not? Isn't ignorance bliss?

"Even though they have the same risk factors right now, we don't know what's going to happen over time," Powell told LiveScience. Her team is currently working on a follow-up study to figure out just that.

Other unhealthy behaviors researchers found include:

• Participants who didn't think they were obese were less likely to go to a physician, with 44 percent saying they hadn't visited a doctor in the past year, compared with 26 percent of those without body misperceptions saying the same.
• Among those who had a doctor visit, nearly 40 percent of the people with misperceptions about body size said their doctor mentioned they needed to lose weight. That's compared with about 70 percent of those in the know about their obesity.
• Obese people who were satisfied with their body size didn't exercise on average, while others who recognized they had a weight problem exercised regularly.

Why obesity is ignored

To explain why obese individuals don’t recognize their weight issues or health problems, Powell suggests perhaps a lack of education on such issues is partly to blame.

"A larger cause may be cultural beliefs and acceptance of obesity as the norm when most around you are obese," Powell said. "I think as obesity becomes more prevalent and people around you are larger you reset what is acceptable."

And that could explain why they found African Americans and Hispanics were significantly more likely than whites to be satisfied with their body size and believe that they did not need to lose weight.

"We're seeing more prevalence in minority populations because obesity is more prevalent in those groups," Powell said. "I think as a society as all of us become larger we reset what we think of as a healthy body size."

Powell suggests both doctors and communities as a whole need to intervene and nudge obese individuals toward a healthier lifestyle.

"We have to tell people regardless of whether they bring it up that they are obese and they need to lose weight, and they need to change their dietary habits and they need to work on physical activity," Powell said.

http://www.livescience.com/health/091117-o...-body-size.html

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Some obese individuals don't realize they have a weight problem, a new study finds. That could be an unhealthy attitude as these same people tend not to exercise and have many risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

The study, based on survey data collected in Dallas, found that one in 10 participants — all of whom were classified as obese — were satisfied with their body size and didn't think they needed to lose a few.

"That is a sizeable percentage who don't understand they are overweight and believe they are healthy," said lead researcher Tiffany Powell, a cardiology fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Either way, obesity packs many negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Powell will present the results today at a meeting for the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla.

She notes the study results are limited in that they don't show causality between such misperceptions of body size and unhealthy behaviors.

Sizing up

In the study, Powell and her colleagues focused on 2,056 individuals who were obese and took part in the Dallas Heart Study. They had an average age of about 40.

Participants looked at nine sex-specific figures (outlines of bodies, with the first showing the slimmest figure and increasing up to the ninth and largest) and chose what they thought they looked like and their ideal figure.

Studies on Caucasians have shown a score of 4 is lean, while a 6 indicates a body mass index, or BMI, of 30. (BMI is calculated from a person's weight and height and indicates body fatness and weight categories that may lead to health problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A score of 30 or above is considered obese; 25 to 29.9 overweight; 18.5 to 24.9 normal; and below 18.5 is considered underweight.)

About 8 percent of the obese participants indicated they thought their body size was smaller than reality. Such individuals, considered to have body-size misperceptions, said they thought their bodies looked like a 4 on the figure scale on average, with an ideal body size of about 5. Other participants were more on target, choosing an average of 6 for current body size and just under a 4 for ideal.

In reality, participants who were unaware they were obese had an average BMI of nearly 35, while the others had a BMI of nearly 37.

Health costs

Those with a misperception of body size believed they were healthy. But 35 percent of them had high blood pressure, 15 percent had high cholesterol, 14 percent had diabetes and 27 percent were current smokers. These numbers are similar to those found for obese individuals who acknowledged they had a weight problem, Powell said.

If both groups of obese participants have health risks, why does it matter whether they know it or not? Isn't ignorance bliss?

"Even though they have the same risk factors right now, we don't know what's going to happen over time," Powell told LiveScience. Her team is currently working on a follow-up study to figure out just that.

Other unhealthy behaviors researchers found include:

• Participants who didn't think they were obese were less likely to go to a physician, with 44 percent saying they hadn't visited a doctor in the past year, compared with 26 percent of those without body misperceptions saying the same.
• Among those who had a doctor visit, nearly 40 percent of the people with misperceptions about body size said their doctor mentioned they needed to lose weight. That's compared with about 70 percent of those in the know about their obesity.
• Obese people who were satisfied with their body size didn't exercise on average, while others who recognized they had a weight problem exercised regularly.

Why obesity is ignored

To explain why obese individuals don't recognize their weight issues or health problems, Powell suggests perhaps a lack of education on such issues is partly to blame.

"A larger cause may be cultural beliefs and acceptance of obesity as the norm when most around you are obese," Powell said. "I think as obesity becomes more prevalent and people around you are larger you reset what is acceptable."

And that could explain why they found African Americans and Hispanics were significantly more likely than whites to be satisfied with their body size and believe that they did not need to lose weight.

"We're seeing more prevalence in minority populations because obesity is more prevalent in those groups," Powell said. "I think as a society as all of us become larger we reset what we think of as a healthy body size."

Powell suggests both doctors and communities as a whole need to intervene and nudge obese individuals toward a healthier lifestyle.

"We have to tell people regardless of whether they bring it up that they are obese and they need to lose weight, and they need to change their dietary habits and they need to work on physical activity," Powell said.

http://www.livescience.com/health/091117-o...-body-size.html

Not me. I know exactly how much I weigh and I ain't too happy.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Unless they also have body dimorphic disorder, how can they possibly NOT know being overweight is :

1. Obvious

2. Unhealthy

[Jenn! 918]

Hmmmm, maybe it's because some people keep deluding them that they are Fabulous And Thick.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Hmmmm, maybe it's because some people keep deluding them that they are Fabulous And Thick.

true, true

[Amit-N-Melody 11]

yeah... I know I am fat... I ant deluding anyone

[Amby 490]

I think they're saying people realize they're not tiny but they don't realize how big they actually are

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I think they're saying people realize they're not tiny but they don't realize how big they actually are

If you're chubby and you know it stamp your hooves.

[Nizzy 1]

My coworker said something to me that made sense. She said that she does not like wearing sweatpants (or pants wioth elastic waist bands) because she loses track of how much weight she is gaining. As a stay at home mom, I LIVED in sweatpants and that was the time I gained weight and didn't even realize it. Now that I am working and I am required to look decent : ) I notice it....boy do I notice it...

[HAL 9000 96]

Hmmmm, maybe it's because some people keep deluding them that they are Fabulous And Thick.

Or just big-boned.

[trillium13 84]

Study was conducted in Texas. There are a lot of...uhm...large people here. I think that may have something to do with these people's observations, they don't know what a healthy person looks like.

I moved here from the northeast about a year ago. It's really astonishing how many more obese people there are here in the south.

[alienlovechild 75]

I think they're saying people realize they're not tiny but they don't realize how big they actually are

The BMI has changed over the years. I remember when there were different minimum and maximum weights for men and women so the standards have changed.

I gained a lot of weight in the last four years and some was due to quitting smoking as a lot of other Americans have done. I've got a BMI of 33 which is obese so it time to buy a treadmill and start running again. I ###### to my wife about portion sizes but she believes that eating lot of healthy food doesn't make you fat- I disagree. I also hate portion sizes in American restaurants so I always get the minimum.

[mawilson 2,133]

Hmmmm, maybe it's because some people keep deluding them that they are Fabulous And Thick.

Thick indeed.

[maliciant 7]

We don't see ourselves the way we see other people or how they see us, if someone isn't having a hard time getting around on their own then they aren't likely to see themselves as fat. Somewhere between 17 and 26 I put on a lot of weight, probably a huge chunk of it closer to 26 and never thought of myself as fat, though I knew I wasn't very fit (I considered myself above average probably though) and I knew looking in a mirror I wasn't sporting six pack abs... and then I saw a picture of myself that way too much resembled the stay puff marshmellow man, it was a shock because even walking by a mirror or something I never saw myself that way, that one picture made me realize how fat I had become. I dropped 85 lbs and still hadn't achieved the look I thought I'd have after losing about 60 lbs (my original goal that I figured would put me very lean). I was still obese according to BMI, I truly do have a large frame and I am packing more muscle than a typical person, but I would say I was in a healthy body fat range, even if I'd have liked to get lower... sad news is I have to say was because I've regained a big chunk of weight over the last few years, it's not always easy to keep a good habit going, and even as I was regaining the weight I was aware of it but until I hit a point where suddenly my pants aren't very comfortable it didn't seem that big a deal... once again I am reminded that I don't look the way I see myself, and need to keep focused on fitness.

[newlyweds 0]

Hmmmm, maybe it's because some people keep deluding them that they are Fabulous And Thick.

true, true

i remember when i was 14-16 lbs more, my younger brother would just call me flabby abs lol..

in the Philippines if you have just a little weight on you. You will definitely know..people will not let you get away with it especially when you used to be skinny lol

and it is like torture everytime!