Does Race Affect Perceptions of Healthy Body Weight?

Obesity-related chronic disease can be avoided or mitigated by weight loss. However, to pursue weight loss, women must perceive that their current weight is too high. In the Do Stage Transitions Result in Detectable Effects (STRIDE) study, investigators examined perceptions of body weight in a cohort of women (age range at enrollment, 40–65) by assessing answers to the question “Do you think your current weight is healthy?” in relation to participants' body-mass index (BMI).

In this cohort of black and white women, mean BMI was higher in blacks (33.1 kg/m² vs. 29.2 kg/m²; P<0.0001). The majority of both black and white women (about 71%) perceived their weight as too high. However, 6.2% of black women (9 of 145) versus 1.1% of white women (6 …