Men overweight and oblivious: study
Friday Apr 11 00:01 AEST
The majority of Australian men are fat but only half of them know it, according to new research showing an alarming number are in denial about their weight.
Obesity experts say men's acceptance of the beer belly and the `bigger is better' approach to size are behind results of a new national analysis showing perception problems with male weight.
More than 60 per cent of men have a body mass index (BMI) over 30, making them clinically overweight, yet only 36 per cent perceive themselves to be.
Women, on the other hand, were better at recognising their extra weight, and those who were well-off and well-educated were actually more likely to overestimate rather than underestimate their weight.
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The study, using data published in the National Health Survey of 34,000 adults, was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
Researchers Dr Katrina Giskes and Jessica Siu, from the Queensland University of Technology, said the findings proved the sexes interpreted weight very differently.
"We found that men tend to underestimate their weight status, whereas overestimation was much more common among women," they wrote.
They said women who overestimated their weight were at risk of body image problems.
"Negative perceptions of their weight status may lead to an adverse preoccupation with body weight and disordered eating and patterns of exercise," they wrote.
And for men, while believing they were lighter had "some psychological benefits", these men were less likely to respond to important public health messages about weight loss because they did not believe they had a problem.
"The risks associated with incorrect perceptions can't be ignored," the researchers said.
An obesity expert, Professor Ian Caterson from the University of Sydney, said the misperceptions of men were deeply entrenched in Australian culture.
"The fact is most Australian men think a beer belly is normal as you age, and their female partners seems to say `that's OK on him, he's a man'," Prof Caterson said.
"And behind everything else, men still think that bigger is better.
"These things make unhealthy male weight very hard to penetrate and deal with as a society."
AAP
Topic: The majority of Australian men are fat (Read 787 times)