Are You In Denial of Your Size?

Take one group of overweight or obese women, and you may find that a quarter of them think their weight is just fine. In fact, some may even consider they’re underweight! 

This is exactly what one study found after questioning over 2,000 women about their weight and how they perceived their size. Some 25 percent felt they were of normal weight, while others even considered they were underweight. 

As might be expected, these same women also had unhealthy diets and lifestyles.

Apparently, it’s all to do with who our friends, family and work colleagues are. If the people we hang around with are overweight, we're far more likely to alter our own perceptions of what is a normal weight. Eventually, if everyone becomes large enough, we start to consider those of a normal weight as slim or even skinny.

Dr Rahman, lead researcher and assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said “As obesity numbers climb, many women identify overweight as normal.”

While weight denial may give many women a false sense of comfort, they are also putting their long term health at risk by increasing the likelihood of contracting obesity-related illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. So don’t be an ostrich. If you’re unsure whether you’re overweight, check out your BMI. It’s easy to do. Follow this link for advice on working out your body mass index.

The results were published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in November 2010.