Being fat the new normal: survey

THE nation’s obesity problem has become so severe fat people don’t even recognise they have a weight problem, a troubling new survey has found.

It is creating a major headache for public health advocates who say people can’t be motivated to change their habits if they think their weight is normal.

The Shape of Australia research from the Heart Foundation and Cancer Council Victoria Live Lighter project has found only one in four obese people (BMI over 30) see themselves as very overweight.

Two in three obese people thought they were just overweight and one in 10 thought they were of average weight, the survey of 2000 Aussies aged 25-49 found

And astoundingly, half the people who were overweight (BMI 25-29.9) described themselves of average weight.

Live Lighter campaign manager and dietitian Alison McAleese says now two in three Australians are above a healthy weight, “it is normal to be overweight”.

“You look around you and you see other people of higher weight and you think you look average,” she said. “If you don’t realise you are above a healthy weight, you are unlikely to be motivated to make a change.”

The survey also found that older people, those aged 45-49 were more likely to get sufficient exercise than younger Australians.