Research by Dr Katrina Giskes from QUT's
Institute of Health and Biomedical
Innovation has revealed that Australian
men are in denial about their weight.

More than half of all Australian men are overweight or obese, but less than a third of them think they are, according to new Queensland University of Technology (QUT) research into perceptions of weight status.

The research, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, reveals that many blokes are in dangerous denial about their weight, says Katrina Giskes, a researcher from QUT's Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation.

"There are some psychological benefits to positive perceptions of weight status, but the risks associated with incorrect perceptions cannot be ignored," she said.

"Kidding yourself you're lighter than you are, for example, makes it easier to ignore public health campaigns encouraging healthier food and more active lifestyles.

"Individuals may only be responsive to these efforts if they perceive themselves as having a weight problem," she added.

The study, using data from the National Health Survey of more than 34,000 men and women, found that men from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds were even more likely to discount the health risks associated with their beer bellies.

Women, on the other hand, were more likely to report that they were carrying extra kilos - even when they weren't.

"Men tended to underestimate their weight status, whereas over-estimation was more common among women," she said.

The study found that 37.4 per cent of women were overweight or obese according to self-reported height and weight data, but 42.8 per cent evaluated themselves as such.

This trend was particularly apparent amongst well-off, well-educated women, who were at increased risk of developing body image problems and eating disorders.

Overweight and obesity are key risk factors for the leading causes of death among Australians.

Public health campaigns currently stress changing energy balance behaviours as the solution to the obesity epidemic.

But Dr Giskes suggests these well-meaning efforts "may prove unsuccessful and potentially harmful" if other factors, such as the way people perceive their weight status, remain unaddressed.

"The challenge for public health is promoting this awareness differentially between gender and socio-economic groups," she said.