BOSTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Concern over the U.S. obesity epidemic has not seemed to increase overweight African-Americans' recognition of their excess pounds.
Analyses of national data collected in 1988-98 and 2001-02 show that the prevalence of misperception actually has increased among blacks, according to Gary G. Bennett of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Center for Community-Based Research and Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
"During this period we've seen rapid gains in obesity," said Bennett. "We think it's a considerable problem that this is still not resonating among blacks and other minorities."
Although the prevalence of overweight and obesity is even higher among blacks -- estimated at more than 75 percent -- than the national average, less pressure exists in the African-American community for people to lose weight through diet and exercise because of a cultural acceptance of higher body weights and heavier body shape, according to Bennett.
The findings appear in the current online issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
