Most obese people think they eat well, survey says

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, August 1, 2006

ATLANTA – 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 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. David 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. Jeffrey Koplan of Atlanta’s Emory University.

The surveyors relied on the respondents to be truthful about their height, weight – used to determine who was overweight or obese – and other answers. About 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.

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.

One of the main 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.