As I stated earlier in the week, medical research can be surprising and often perplexing but the recent findings about weight and perception simply make me sad. Sigh. A new report from The Dallas Heart Study says that there are some obese people who consider themselves ‘normal’ and don’t believe there’s any reason to lose weight. Actually 1 in 10 people in the study felt this way and actually considered themselves healthy although many suffered from hypertension, diabetes, diabetes and/or smoked. So here’s the part that makes me sigh….50% of those in the study where black. So essentially this study confirms that many of us take the fantasy approach when it comes to our weight.

In the words of the robot from “Lost in Space” all I can say is ‘danger Will Robinson…I mean sisters.’ The authors of the study say specifically that those of us who are overweight and perceive ourselves to be of ‘normal’ weight are more likely to have 3 high numbers: blood pressure, insulin resistance and body mass index. Because there is a misconception of normalcy most of those who have this belief don’t see the need to visit the doctor. In other words, they ‘re walk around liking ticking time bombs waiting for all sorts of chronic diseases to literally destroy them. And forget about exercise, it’s not on their agenda.

The challenge is that this population isn’t getting seen by the medical community so they aren’t being treated.

“This is an important population that we aren’t seeing or targeting,” Tiffany Powell, M.D., lead author of the study and a cardiology fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said. “Understanding and countering this misconception may be a novel and perhaps vitally important target for obesity prevention and treatment. Because many of these individuals believe they are healthier than they really are, they do not go to the doctor and thus community interventions will be needed. However, Powell also emphasized that her findings show that physicians need to talk with their obese patients about exercise and weight loss. “The onus falls on us as physicians to determine who this population is and how to talk with them.”

Community interventions would mean that we have to get real about weight. Just like you don’t tell a crackhead they have ’sort of a problem’ we’re going to have to confront our bad habits. Do you think we’re ready for that? Well it’s about that time. And visiting our doctors for annual checkups where these issues can discussed is a necessary part of the solution. And just so you know the scale doesn’t lie. If we don’t like what we see it’s up to us to do something about it.

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