Majority of the Americans refuse to accept that they are overweight. According to a study published on Tuesday, 90% of the Americans know that most of their fellow men are overweight , but just 40% believe themselves to be too fat.
The statistics show that more that 60 percent of the U.S. population is overweight, and half is obese, meaning they are at serious risk of health effects from their weight. But in a telephone survey done by the Pew Research Centre, on more than 2,000 adults found that many people overestimate how tall they are and underestimate how much they weigh and do not rate themselves as overweight, even when though they might be.The survey also found that some people appear to have given up on dieting to control their weight. One in four respondents in the survey feel that they are currently dieting, and roughly half (52%) claim that they have dieted at some point in their lives. In a poll taken 15 years ago, the percentage of adults who reported having ever dieted was slightly higher 57 % the report reads.
The poll was done on adults, on how tall they are and how much they weigh. Doctors and researchers around the world use a calculator of height to weight called body mass index to calculate if a person is obese or overweight. The survey also found that women claimed that they were an inch taller and 5 pounds lighter than they probably were, while men claimed to they were two inches taller and 6 pounds heavier.
In the report, the survey finds that most Americans, including those who say they are overweight, seem to agree that it’s the personal behaviour rather than genetic disposition or the marketing by food companies which is the main reason people are overweight. The survey finds that the public seems to feel that particularly the failure to get enough exercise is the most important reason, followed by a lack of willpower about what to eat. About half the public also says that the kinds of foods marketed at restaurants and grocery stores are a very important cause, and roughly a third say the same about the effect of genetics and heredity.
