Washington DC: If you think that realising you are on the heavier side of weight will help you lose extra kilos, there’s news for you as a new study claims that “knowing it” may lead to you being even more overweight.
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University of Liverpool researchers looked at the lives of 14,000 adults in the US and the UK through data captured in three studies and analysed data from time periods after the children had reached adulthood to find out their perception of their own weight – whether or not it was correct – and their subsequent weight gain over time.
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They found that, those who identified themselves as being “overweight” were more likely to report overeating in response to stress and this predicted subsequent weight gain.
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Dr Eric Robinson, from the University’s Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, said that realising you are an overweight individual is in itself likely to be quite stressful and makes it difficult to make healthy choices in lifestyle.
However, he added, the way people talk about body weight and the way overweight and obesity is portrayed in society is something that can be reconsidered.
The study is published in the International Journal of Obesity.