Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Paper
  • Published:

Weight and dieting: examining levels of weight concern in British adults

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Amid rising levels of obesity, not all overweight individuals recognize that their weight is too high. At the same time many of those whose weight is within the normal range are dissatisfied with their body size, providing evidence of inappropriate weight aspirations, especially amongst women. This research examines the nature and level of complacency and over-concern in overweight, underweight and normal-weight individuals.

METHODS: Data on weight, perceived overweight and dieting status were collected from a stratified probability sample of 1894 British adults, as part of the Office of National Statistics' Omnibus Survey.

RESULTS: Most obese adults correctly perceived themselves as overweight, but many were not trying to lose weight, and only a minority had participated in a programme of weight control. Men's awareness was lower than women's. At the other extreme, few men, but around a quarter of normal-weight women felt overweight or were trying to lose weight, but their preferred weight was only slightly below their actual weight.

CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that weight concern among British women is high, but probably not excessive and there is little evidence for idealization of dangerously low weights. In contrast, many overweight men were unaware of their weight problem. Only around half of those who would benefit from weight reduction were trying to lose weight, and few had received advice from health professionals. In view of the prevalence of obesity, there may be opportunities to provide more guidance on weight control within primary care.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Purchase on Springer Link

Instant access to full article PDF

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. World Health Organization. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic WHO Technical Report Series no. 894 WHO: Geneva 2000.

  2. Gregory J, Foster K, Tyler H, Wiseman M . Dietary and Nutritional Survey of British Adults HMSO: London 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Health Survey for England: adults reference tables 1999 Available from www.doh.gov.uk/stats/trends1.htm

  4. National Audit Office Tackling obesity in England. The Stationery Office: London 2001.

  5. Hsu LK . Epidemiology of the eating disorders Psychiat Clin N Am 1996 19: 681–700.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Hebl MR, Heatherton TF . The stigma of obesity in women: the difference is black and white Person Soc Psych Bull 1998 24: 417–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Crawford D, Owen N . The behavioural epidemiology of weight control Aust J Public Health 1994 18: 143–148.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Patton GC, Carlin JB, Shao Q, Hibbert ME, Rosier M, Selzer R et al. Adolescent dieting: healthy weight control or borderline eating disorder? J Child Psychol Psychiat 1997 38: 299–306.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Crawford D, Campbell K . Lay definitions of ideal weight and overweight Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999 23: 738–745.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Blokstra A, Burns CM, Seidell JC . Perception of weight status and dieting behaviour in Dutch men and women Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999 23: 7–17.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Donath SM . Who's overweight? Comparison of the medical definition and community views Med J Aust 2000 8: 375–377.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Kunkel ME . Body weight perceptions, body mass index and dieting practices of South Carolina adults J Am Diet Assoc 1987 87: 1217–1218.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Sciacca JP, Melby CL, Hyner GC, Brown AC, Femea PL . Body mass index and perceived weight status in young adults J Community Health 1991 16: 159–168.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Cameron R, Evers SE . Self-report issues in obesity and weight management: state of the art and future directions Behav Assess 1990 12: 91–106.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Roberts RJ . Can self-reported data accurately describe the prevalence of overweight? Public Health 1995 109: 275–284.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Horm J, Anderson K . Who in America is trying to lose weight? Ann Intern Med 1993 119: 672–676.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Manson JE, Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ, Henkinson SE et al.. Body weight and mortality among women New Engl J Med 1995 333: 677–685.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Rand CSW, Resnick JL . The ‘good enough’ body size as judged by people of varying age and weight Obes Res 2000 8: 309–316.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research received financial support from the Economic and Social Research Council and Cancer Research UK (formerly the Imperial Cancer Research Fund). Data were collected by the Office of National Statistics.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J Wardle.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wardle, J., Johnson, F. Weight and dieting: examining levels of weight concern in British adults. Int J Obes 26, 1144–1149 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802046

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802046

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links