Fat Detectors

Although women are more likely than men to assess their weight status accurately, gender isn’t the only factor that influ- ences how weight is judged. A 2002 study conducted by researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center dis- covered that race, BMI, education, and income also play a role.
Being Caucasian, lean, or well educated or having a higher income is associated with a greater likelihood of correctly assessing one’s weight status.One study of over 29,000 men and women found that a considerablenumber of overweight men were satisfied with their current weight and so were not making any attempt to reduce it. In other words, men are likely to believe that the weight that is healthy for them is greater than what research has shown it to be. Since men are without an awareness of what a healthy weight is, it’s no wonder that the num- ber of overweight and obese men is on the rise.