Some 8% of the group exhibited body size misperception. In other words, these people did not recognize that they were obese. Further examples of denial were that the body size misperception cohort felt they had a low lifetime risk of heart attack, high blood pressure and diabetes. The most amazing revelation is that a full two-thirds of these already obese individuals considered themselves at low risk for developing obesity. The authors of the paper think this issue is under-publicized and generally not dealt with well by physicians.
Maybe the concept of body size misperception, an entity that I certainly was not aware of before, can explain the apparent lack of self-recognition that one might be obese. And lacking the ability to see this obviously explains not only why some people become morbidly obese but also why they don’t seem inclined to correct the situation.
*Powell TM, et al. Body size misperception: a novel determinant in the obesity epidemic. Arch Intern Med. 2010 Oct 11;170:1695-7. [No abstract available]
3 comments:
Misperceptions are not limited to our bodily dimensions. I suspect that all of us have an innacurate view of many of our personal traits and physician characteristics. Sometimes, we extend this grade inflation to others. For example, everyone's kid is above average.
I am one of those 8% with no perception of body size. Intellectually, I know I am obese, but I cannot visualize my size relative to other people except to know that I am larger. Even looking in a mirror does not help. I have to have somebody else point out another person who is near my size to get any feel for how large I actually am. I wish there were a way to change my perception.
Anonymous, I found your comment very interesting. Being a mere surgeon, I am at a loss as to how to advise you to effect a change in your perception. I wonder if a psychiatrist could help. Nowadays they all want to treat people with drugs, which does not seem to me to be a solution for you. I hope you can solve the problem.
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.