You Cant Fix What You Deny

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Survey: Most obese claim to eat healthy

By MIKE STOBBE,

AP Medical Writer

8/2/06

More than three-quarters of obese Americans say they

have healthy eating habits, according to a survey of

more than 11,000 people.

About 40 percent of obese people also said they do

" vigorous " exercise at least three times a week, the

telephone survey found.

" There is, perhaps, some denial going on. Or there is

a lack of understanding of what does it mean to be

eating healthy, and what is vigorous exercise, " said

Dr. Schutt of Thomson Medstat, the

Michigan-based health-care research firm that

conducted the survey.

The survey also found that 28 percent of obese people

reported snacking two or more times a day, only

slightly more than 24 percent of normal weight people

who said they did.

But the survey failed to ask people what — and how

much — they ate, noted Dr. Koplan of Atlanta's

Emory University.

" The questions leave out quantity, " said Koplan, who

chairs an Institute of Medicine committee on progress

in preventing childhood obesity.

Roughly two-thirds of Americans are overweight or

heavier, and nearly one-third qualify as obese,

according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention.

Respondents to the survey were contacted through

computer random digit dialing in January through

March. The surveyors relied on the respondents to be

truthful about their height, weight and other answers.

Obesity was determined by body-mass index, a

calculation based on height and weight. Using BMI, a

man 5-feet-10 would be considered overweight at

174-208 pounds, and obese at 209 pounds or more.

About 3,100 of the people in the survey were obese or

morbidly obese; an estimated 4,200 more people were

overweight; about 3,800 were normal weight and about

200 were underweight, according to the Thomson

Medstat.

Those demographics are generally consistent with the

federal health survey that actually measures and

weighs people, said Schutt, the company's associate

medical director.

It was surprising how some responses from obese and

overweight people paralleled those of thinner

respondents.

For example, about 19 percent of obese people said

they always read nutritional labels on food packages,

compared with 24 percent of normal-weight people. And

about 29 percent of obese people said they eat out at

restaurants three or more times a week, compared with

25 percent of normal-weight people.

" The numbers aren't wildly different, " Schutt said.

One of the largest differences was the answer to the

question: How often do you eat all of the food you are

served at restaurants? About 41 percent of obese

people said they always did, while 31 percent of

normal weight people always did.

Thomson Medstat is a data collection and analysis

company that contracts with the federal government and

about 20 states, on health projects. The data about

eating and exercise are part of a larger package of

survey information being marketed to employers,

hospitals and other customers. It is not being

published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

The survey had a sampling margin of error of plus or

minus 1 percentage point, according to the company.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights

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