Believing yourself to be overweight or obese can lead to distress and even depression.

People with inaccurate perceptions of their body shape, believing themselves to be overweight or obese, can risk becoming distressed and possibly even depressed.

These findings come from new research by Australian scientists from The University of Sydney’s Faculty of Health Science and Deakin University, who analyzed data obtained from the Australian National Health Survey 2004-5 to determine whether weight status and weight perceptions are independently associated with psychological distress.

Watch Your Self-Image

A person’s own self-image can determine whether they are distressed or not, regardless of their actual weight,” said lead researcher Dr Evan Atlantis.

Like people from developed nations all over the world, Australians are getting heavier. When body mass index (BMI) was calculated from reported height and weight, 62 percent of men and 45 percent of women were classified in the overweight or obese groups. This was even higher than in the previous survey 10 years earlier, up from 52 percent to 62 percent for men and from 37 percent to 45 percent for women.

However, only 32 percent of men and 37 percent of women assessed themselves as being overweight.

Dr Atlantis said that for these people, while being overweight had physical consequences for their health, their attitude meant they were not distressed by it.

“They believe their weight is OK, even if it isn’t really,” he said.

So although such people had a ‘weight misperception’, they were not suffering psychological damage from this misperception.

Risk of Depression

On the other hand, people who were mildly or moderately overweight, and considered themselves grossly overweight or obese, had a 50 per cent increased risk of psychological distress, even depression.

This is because they believe they don’t meet society’s norms for a slim, fit body, and feel themselves stigmatized because of their weight and size.

Weight misperception and its attendant psychological stress also applies to the much smaller proportion of population who believe themselves to be underweight. They can be up to 120 percent more likely to develop emotional distress from believing they have an abnormal body shape.

The study is to be published in the International Journal of Obesity

Social Pressures and Stigmas

Dr Atlantis said it was likely that fashion magazines, the media and marketing were to blame for increasing social pressures to be thin, even as lifestyle and modern technology are driving people’s weights higher.

“If unhealthy weight perceptions are subsequently found to cause psychological distress or worse, depression, then we’ll need to determine whether social stigma, discrimination, and slim body image marketing trigger feelings of depression amongst those who recognize that their weight status does not conform to a societal ideal,” he said.

“Clearly both obesity and underweight are hazardous to health, increasing the risk of premature death, for example, but our findings suggest that public health initiatives targeting psychological distress at the population level may need to promote healthy attitudes towards body weight and self-acceptance, regardless of weight status.”

Be Healthy and Stay Positive!

The take-home message is to be as objective as possible about your body shape, using the standard BMI measurement, height and age factors. For most of us, this means admitting we are a bit overweight, and taking steps to leading a healthier lifestyle.

And most of all, remain positive!

See also: Lose Weight by Budgeting Calories

See also: Portion Control Key to Weight Loss