Some obese folks fool themselves into denial of weight problem

Have you heard of "the fat gap?" It's a term that sprang up last month, when a survey in Great Britain found the majority of overweight people there are oblivious to the fact that they're heavy. The findings pin down a phenomenon that health professionals have been talking about for years: as those around us get fatter, our perception of our own size changes accordingly. Are you, too, caught in the fat gap?

• Fooling ourselves: The survey found that public perception of healthy weight has blurred so much that fat is now seen as the "norm." Less than one in 10 people believe the excess pounds they are carrying are significant enough for them to be classified as obese, according to the 2,100 adults in the poll by YouGov, an international Internet-based market research firm. Yet measurements found that one in four of those questioned were clinically obese.

• Am I fat? Don't bother with a scale; the best way to tell is by calculating your BMI, or Body Mass Index. The measure of body fat is a bit complicated, but you can skip all the math by going to a Harvard Health Web site, among others, and punching in your height and weight, www.tinyurl.com/yzz5wdy. You're overweight if your BMI is 25 or higher and obese if your BMI is 30 or higher, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Weight of the nation: Brits aren't the only ones blissfully unaware. A CDC report this past summer showed waistlines in the United States are still growing. Overall, 26.1 percent of Americans were obese in 2008, compared to 25.6 percent in 2007. Florida ranks 30th (tied with New York) in terms of the fattest states, with 24.4 percent of our population obese. Washington state and Wisconsin ranked 25th with 25.4 percent. Mississippi has the highest concentration of obese people, with 32.8 percent. Colorado is the only state in the nation where less than 20 percent of adults are obese.

• Why it matters: You've heard it before, but it bears repeating. Research has shown that as weight increases, so do the risks of having coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, stroke and sleep apnea, among other health problems, according to the CDC.

• "Obesogenic:" Concerned about an environment that promotes overeating, unhealthy foods and physical inactivity — what it calls America's "obesogenic" society — the CDC has a Web site with information on science-based interventions, weight management research and other info for adults and children who need to lose weight, www.cdc.gov/obesity/index.html.