Obesity keeps you from seeing more than your feet
Apparently, excess fat does more than prevent obese people from seeing their toes.
In a 2000-2002 survey (and why does it take almost a decade for the results of these studies to make the light of day?) more than two thousand obese adults in the Dallas area, an overwhelming majority believed they had nothing to lose. Literally and medically.
The survey, conducted as part of the Dallas Heart Study by Dr. Tiffany M. Powell and colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, found that 14 percent of the obese African Americans and 11 percent of obese Hispanics felt they should trim down the pounds. More shocking was the result for white obese individuals – just 2 percent felt they were overweight.
Some other shocking stats from the study:
- Half of these individuals actually thought they were healthier than most people their age
- 44 % had not seen a doctor at all in the past year (compared to 25% of people who correctly perceived their weight
- Education played no role (both highly-educated and non-educated people were as prone to these misperceptions)
The mind is an amazing thing, and a positive attitude does work toward keeping people happy and healthy. But a positive mindset can’t will away gravity if you’ve fallen off a cliff, and it won’t prevent obesity from killing you if you don’t know you’re overweight.
There are hundreds of online calculators to help you instantly assess whether you’re underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese. Here’s one. All you need is your height and weight. If your BMI is 25 or more, see a doctor, start exercising and start looking closely at what you’re putting into your body each day (start a food journal). If your BMI is 30-plus, don’t kid yourself. Get to a doctor right away. Your life depends on it!
And speaking of kids… If the parents aren’t aware they have an obesity problem, it’s possible that their children may be heading toward a life of obesity themselves. Here’s a BMI Calculator for children and teenagers from the CDC.