You may recall a Harris Interactive poll that showed how clueless Americans often are about their weight even when faced with it every day in the mirror. A recent study of more than 2,200 women between ages 18-25 shows how these misperceptions cut both ways.

Researchers divided participants into four categories -- normal weight and overweight accurate perceivers and normal weight and overweight misperceivers -- based on BMI scores and responses to questions about physical activity, smoking, eating habits and using diet "tricks" (pills, diuretics and skipping, for example).

Overall, 23 percent of overweight patients and 16 percent of those who maintained a normal weight had problems discerning their true body image. More interesting numbers:

* Among the overweight misperceivers, almost double the number of Hispanic (25 percent) and black women (30 percent) had more trouble recognizing it than did white women (15 percent), leaving them more vulnerable to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other harmful health problems.

* Far more Hispanic and white women -- 16 and 20 percent, respectively -- who maintained a normal weight (a BMI score under 25) overestimated their size, and were far more prone to smoke, skip meals and diet.

* Fifty-two percent of all patients participating in the study were obese or overweight.

Because perception often clouds the reality of your health, it's more important for you than ever to work with a health care physician, be he/she a doctor, naturopath, osteopath or chiropractor, and to do your homework.

Obstetrics & Gynecology, Vol. 116, No. 6, p. 1274-1280, December 2010

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ScienceDaily November 22, 2010