Around one fifth of overweight Americans may not realize they need to lose weight -- and neither do many of their physicians.
A team based in Baltimore found in a survey that 21% of overweight patients believed their weight was normal, and up to one quarter of physicians did not identify their patients' weight problems.
In the study researchers calculated patients' weight status using body mass index (BMI) -- a measure of weight in relation to height used to gauge obesity. A person with a BMI of at least 30 is obese, while one with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is overweight.
Although 22% of overweight patients in the study who believed they were of normal weight were actually obese, most of the patients were simply overweight. However, people who are obese used to be overweight, and the right counseling could keep patients from gaining extra pounds.
Male physicians were less able than female doctors to accurately assess the weight status of patients, and overweight men misperceived their own weights more often than overweight women.
Patients who were most likely to be misclassified by doctors were male, physically active, and believed they lived a healthy lifestyle.
The American Journal of Medicine June 2002;112:662-666
It is really hard to believe that so many people are in such denial about their weight. Despite efforts to sound the alarm about obesity and diabetes in the US, rates of both conditions continue to skyrocket. Every year 300,000 people die from obesity complications. While Colorado had the lowest rate of obesity with about 14%, Mississippi topped the scales with 24.3% obesity or nearly 1 in 4 adults with a BMI of 30 or more.
Most US adults (more than 56%) are overweight, about 1 in 5 is obese, and 7.3% have diabetes. Diabetes could be as high as 10% if undiagnosed cases are considered. These numbers are especially tragic as nearly 100% of cases are preventable by following a proper eating plan and exercise.
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