Study: Rising obesity changes perceptions

BOSTON, July 11 (UPI) -- Researchers say that as the U.S. population becomes heavier perception of what is a normal weight has also increased.

A group led by Mary Burke, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, compared the results of surveys done between 1988 and 1994 and then between 1999 and 2004 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, CNN reported.

The researchers said women questioned for the later survey actually tended to have a more realistic perception of their own weight than those in the earlier one. Women with a normal Body Mass Index were more likely to describe themselves as overweight between 1988 and 1994.

Dr. Melina Jampolis, who was not involved in the research, said some of the change in perception could come from campaigns aimed at discouraging women from seeking fashion-model thinness. But she said the general increase in overweight is more likely to make normal weight seem even more normal.