(Press-News.org) GALVESTON, November 17, 2010 – A startling number of overweight and normal weight women of reproductive age inaccurately perceive their body weight, affecting their weight-related behaviors and making many vulnerable to cardiovascular and other obesity-related diseases, according to new research from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston.
In the December issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the researchers report that nearly 25 percent of overweight and 16 percent of normal weight reproductive-age women misperceive their body weight. This is the first study to examine reproductive-age women's weight-related behaviors associated with self-perception of weight.
Overweight and obese Hispanic and African American women are significantly more likely than white women to misjudge their weight, categorizing themselves as normal. The researchers also found that overweight women who perceive themselves as normal weight were significantly less likely to report weight-related behaviors, such as dieting.
"What we found reflects the 'fattening' of America," says corresponding author Dr. Mahbubur Rahman, assistant professor Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Women's Health. "As obesity numbers climb, many women identify overweight as normal, not based on the scale but on how they view themselves."
Self-perception of body weight is the degree of concordance between perceived and measured weight. The National Institutes of Health defines overweight as having a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 25 kg/m2 – a measurement calculated by dividing an individual's body weight by the square of his or her height (kg/m2). Normal weight is defined as having a BMI of 18.5.9 kg/m2.
More than half of reproductive-aged women in the U.S. are considered overweight or obese by BMI standards, with minority women at greater risk. Currently, 82 percent of African American women and 75 percent of Mexican-American women meet the criteria for being overweight or obese.
Self-perception of Weight and Related Behaviors
The study analyzed more than 2,200 women 18-25 years old based on survey questions pertaining to sociodemographic variables, height, weight, weight perceptions and weight-related behaviors. Women with BMIs below 25 were considered normal weight and those with BMIs of 25 or more were considered overweight. Overall, 52 percent of the study participants were considered overweight or obese.
Using calculated BMI and participants' responses to self-perception questions of weight, the researchers divided the women into four categories: "overweight misperceivers," overweight women who describe themselves as under- or normal weight; "overweight accurate perceivers," overweight women who described themselves as overweight; "normal weight misperceivers," normal weight women who described themselves as overweight; and "normal weight accurate perceivers," normal weight women who described themselves as normal- or under-weight.
Weight-related behaviors assessed included using diet pills, powder or liquids, laxatives or diuretics; induced vomiting; skipping meals; dieting/eating less or differently; smoking more cigarettes; and not eating carbohydrates. Respondents were also asked about the number of days over the last week that they exercised for at least 30 minutes continuously.
Significantly more Hispanic and African Americans – nearly 25 and 30 percent, respectively – were overweight misperceivers compared with white women, 15 percent of whom were included in this category. However, significantly more white and Hispanic women were normal weight misperceivers – approximately 16 and 20 percent, respectively.
Overweight misperceivers had significantly lower odds of participating in healthy or unhealthy weight-related behaviors. Normal weight misperceivers were more than twice as likely to diet, skip meals and smoke more cigarettes; the respective odds were nearly four and five times higher with regard to using diet pills, powder, liquids and diuretics.
These findings were especially concerning, as the lower likelihood of overweight misperceivers to practice healthy weight loss behaviors has a negative impact on obesity prevention, and the higher likelihood of normal weight misperceivers to practice unhealthy weight loss behaviors can lead to harmful medical and psychological consequences.
Self-perception of Weight: The First Step for the Obesity Prevention Ladder
"Weight misperception is a threat to the success of obesity prevention programs," says lead author Dr. Abbey Berenson, professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Women's Health. "Overweight individuals who do not recognize that they are overweight are far less likely to eat healthfully and exercise. These patients are at risk for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and other serious problems."
The researchers recommend that clinicians calculate patients' BMI at each visit as part of their vital signs, routinely screen for misperceptions of body weight and inquire about unhealthy weight-related behaviors so that they can counsel patients appropriately.
"This is especially important for reproductive-age women because they are more likely to be obese than similarly aged men, often because they've had at least one child and have not lost pregnancy weight and find that their schedules make it difficult to exercise and eat healthfully," adds Berenson.
###
ABOUT UTMB
Established in 1891, Texas' first academic health center comprises four health sciences schools, three institutes for advanced study, a research enterprise that includes one of only two national laboratories dedicated to the safe study of infectious threats to human health, and a health system offering a full range of primary and specialized medical services throughout Galveston County and the Texas Gulf Coast region. UTMB is a component of the University of Texas System.
Skin cells from humans can be revamped into pro-clotting cells called platelets, according to a study published on November 22 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org). Patients with diseases causing thrombocytopenia—platelet deficiency—often require repeated transfusions with platelets obtained from healthy donors.
But donor platelet isolation is expensive and labor intensive, and donor platelets can be attacked by the patient's immune systems as "foreign." Therefore, Koji Eto and colleagues sought a method for generating custom-made platelets from patients' ...
A sugar found in mouse breast milk promotes the generation of colitis in offspring, according to a study published online on November 22 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org).
Sugars in breast milk are essential for the development of the newborn immune system and the growth of beneficial commensal bacteria in the gut. But certain milk sugars in certain contexts could be bad news. A group led by Thierry Hennet at the University of Zurich found that newborn mice fostered by mothers lacking one particular milk sugar—sialyl(alpha2,3)lactose—were less susceptible ...
Boston, MA – A new study released today estimates that the global initiative to eradicate polio could provide net benefits of at least US$40-50 billion if transmission of wild polioviruses is interrupted within the next five years. The study provides the first rigorous evaluation of the benefits and costs of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)—the single largest project ever undertaken by the global health community. The study comes at a crucial time—following an outbreak in the Republic of the Congo and one in Tajikistan earlier this year—that highlight the ...
There are 27 species of bats identified in the Basque Country today. Twenty years ago there were hardly any records. This data reflects the fruitful work on the ecology and behavioural development of bats by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) research team since the 90s. The director of the team, Mr Joxerra Aihartza, took the first steps when he began drawing up a complete atlas of the distribution of bat species in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (CAV-EAE). There are now nine biologists on the team.
As Mr Egoitz Salsamendi, member of the team, ...
Hospitals all over the world need to be aware of how to treat emergency blast injuries and military surgeons can provide valuable knowledge and advice to their civilian counterparts based on their experience of battlefield injuries. That is the driving force behind two papers published online by BJS, the British Journal of Surgery.
"The current inquest into the 2005 London bombings - and the recent international security alerts - provide a timely reminder that surgeons could be called on at a moment's notice to deal with blast injuries" says consultant surgeon Mr Jonothan ...
ATLANTA, GA – 22 November, 2010 – The College of Direct Support (CDS), an internet-based curriculum for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and managed in partnership by Elsevier/MC Strategies and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center, has introduced its latest offering in the form of a new genre of its online learning content. The new Learning Session is called "R&R Arcade: Direct Support Professionalism: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)."
This Learning Session is in a new memory-game format, based on the memory ...
Engineers have developed a new type of microchip muscle stimulator implant that will enable people with paraplegia to exercise their paralysed leg muscles.
It is the first time that researchers have developed a device of this kind that is small enough to be implanted into the spinal canal and incorporates the electrodes and muscle stimulator in one unit. The implant is the size of a child's fingernail.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) project is being led by Professor Andreas Demosthenous from University College London. It includes engineers ...
Insomnia is bad news for software engineers' quality of life and deserves greater recognition and attention, according to new research by Sara Sarrafi Zadeh and Khyrunnisa Begum from the University of Mysore in India. Their work shows that poor sleep has a bearing on quality of life - affecting physical and mental health in particular - in this group with high levels of job-related stress. Their paper is published online in Springer's journal Applied Research in Quality of Life.
Insomnia, a disorder of insufficient or poor quality sleep, has been shown to have adverse ...
A breakthrough in a University of Cincinnati engineering lab that could clear the way for a low-cost, even disposable, e-reader is gaining considerable attention.
Electrical Engineering Professor Andrew Steckl's research into an affordable, yet high-performance, paper-based display technology is being featured this week as the November cover story of ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, one of the scientific journals for the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
In the research, Steckl and UC doctoral student Duk Young Kim demonstrated ...
UPTON, NY — A study to be published as the "Paper of the Week" in the Journal of Biological Chemistry this December details how zinc, an element fundamental to cell growth, enters the cell via zinc-specific uptake proteins. The research, conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, is the first to purify this kind of protein and study its role in zinc uptake.
Zinc is crucial to the health of all living organisms. At the cellular level, zinc is responsible for cell growth, which in turn affects the health, growth, and reproduction ...
