Many not aware of obesity

By ANNE BESTON

One in six Aucklanders is likely to be obese without knowing it, says a survey by a pharmaceutical company which manufactures a weight-loss drug.

The nationwide survey of 1000 people found 16.7 per cent of Auckland respondents were clinically obese but under 1 per cent recognised the fact.

It also suggested that others worried about their weight unnecessarily. Almost half the people in Auckland surveyed thought they were overweight - 46.6 per cent - yet only 31.4 per cent actually were.

Participants in the survey, commissioned by Reductil manufacturer Abbott Laboratories, were asked their weight, height, exercise and eating habits, from which their Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated.

Study researcher Dr Anne-Thea McGill said New Zealanders had forgotten they used to be slim.

"Few people seem aware of the impending problems with diabetes, cancer and heart disease among younger obese New Zealanders," she said.

Another finding was that, nationwide, Asian people had the highest proportion of those who were classified obese without knowing it - 33 per cent.

In Auckland, 21.9 per cent of Asian respondents were obese.

The standard obesity classification is a BMI of 30 or more. For Maori it is 32-plus and for Asians, 25-plus.

The BMI, which compares weight to height, is the standard tool for classifying obesity.

Professor Cliff Tasman-Jones, chairman of the scientific committee of the Nutrition Foundation, said the survey findings should be treated with caution.

"The survey's emphasis is on obesity, but it is prevention of obesity that will have the biggest long-term effect," he said.