Self-reported heights and weights rarely match reality, claims Bonnie Taub-Dix, M.A., R.D., of the American Dietetic Association. In fact, the study estimated that almost 29 percent of men and 35 percent of women were obese in 2002 compared to the reported statistics for that year, which were 16 percent and 22 percent respectively.
Women underreported their weight while men overestimated their height. In both cases, those little white lies resulted in lighter -- and inaccurate -- BMIs (the measurement researchers use to report obesity statistics). What's worse, "Even with the old estimates, almost two-thirds of our population is overweight or obese," says Taub-Dix.
Based on the new calculations, Texas and Mississippi have the highest rates of obesity (about 30 percent for men and 37 percent for women). Perhaps it's the tasty Tex-Mex and preference for meat and potatoes? Montana and Colorado earn top honors for the lowest rates of obesity. Only 16 percent of women in Montana are obese (21 percent of men) and only 18 percent of men in Colorado are obese (24 percent of women).
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
Sure I have some extra fat, but I don't think anyone would think I qualify as part of the obesity epidemic.
Obviously we have a problem in both the US and Canada, but BMI is still a lousy indicator.
__________________ 2009: No races, No times. Slow year. So, now you're 96 cals short. You're now in starvation mode. Doomed. - LostDog
Blog entry: November 1, 2009, Pancakes LiveSTRONG daily plate log
It takes a very brave person to ask an overweight woman what she weighs...
Or Hard_Rox how tall he is ... :p
(Oh, man, am I gonna pay for that one ..... )
__________________
"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right." - Henry Ford
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
It takes a very brave person to ask an overweight woman what she weighs...
Why?
Not like I can't out run her!
Such a dick, I am.
Og.
__________________ 2009: No races, No times. Slow year. So, now you're 96 cals short. You're now in starvation mode. Doomed. - LostDog
Blog entry: November 1, 2009, Pancakes LiveSTRONG daily plate log
I figure I very likely have more lean mass than the average american, but I'm also a little fatter than I could be...and the average is pretty darn sad.
There's a good thread on BMI running on T-Nation at the mo....not one person is less than underwieght, and quite a few are obese!
__________________
Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. -- Sidney J. Harris
BMI is not the best way, IMO to gauge obesity, but taking a cross section of society as a whole, as opposed to using the numbers we would generate, it probably is at least an indicator of the overall problem.
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
BMI is not the best way, IMO to gauge obesity, but taking a cross section of society as a whole, as opposed to using the numbers we would generate, it probably is at least an indicator of the overall problem.
I would agree with that, I just disagree that people fudging their weight numbers is really going to skew something that much, especially when the something is only a guage and not a cold hard specific since BMI is far from perfect in the first place.
Og.
__________________ 2009: No races, No times. Slow year. So, now you're 96 cals short. You're now in starvation mode. Doomed. - LostDog
Blog entry: November 1, 2009, Pancakes LiveSTRONG daily plate log
Fudging the Obesity Numbers
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Linear Mode
