How much do you weigh? Really? Are you sure about that...?
Sound doubtful, don't I? But then I've good reason to be - it turns out that people (and some more than others) are apallingly bad at giving you an accurate estimate of their body weight.
Why? Several possibilities present themselves.
First, maybe they genuinely don't know. This is quite plausible - if (a) you don't really care about your weight, (b) your bathroom scale expired beneath the heft of an overpacked suitcase back in the 1980s, and (c) you haven't been to the doctor since that year you got that weird rash on your...never mind -- then why on earth would you?
But there's also a second: They do know...but they're lying. Or at the very least getting a little ‘creative' with their weight, height, or both - which can end up distorting one's body mass index (BMI).
For instance, a recent study compared people's weight and height estimates with measured values, and found an embarrassment of errors, of which the most common were: 1) under-reporting weight while embellishing height (a veritable double whammy of falsehoods), (2) getting height correct but under-shooting on the weight (whoops!), and (3) getting weight perfect... but still remaining preeningly over-optimistic on the height.
What factors predict this type of mistake?
Well one study found that women, older people, and those with health issues like hypertension and diabetes, were more likely to low-ball on their weight measures.
Others have found that people who are obese are relatively more likely to verbally shave off a few unwanted pounds.
And when it comes to height, men are by far the most pronounced Pinocchios. Just take a look at this data from OKCupid - either all the single blokes on this particular dating website are abnormally strapping, or there's a little bit of embellishment going on...
Of course not everyone effectively distorts their weight downward.
For example, some people with concerns about being too heavy tend to over-estimate their weight - or at least to choose a larger body shape than their own when asked to pick the one that looks most like them.
So does this lack of accuracy actually matter?
Sometimes, no - if you're fit, healthy, and haven't any discernible weight problems, then there's no need to start obsessing about symbols on a scale - after all you are not a number, but a free man.
But other times, yes - the bury-head-in-sand method can hurt the individual who misunderestimates and has a lot to gain from owning up to his or her habitus.
In the case of overweight, for example, getting over the urge to deny the truth and facing up to one's actual weight at repeated ‘weigh-ins' has been shown to be a really helpful aid to weight loss - so it's definitely worth a try.
And acknowledging any challenge related to one's weight - whether it's excess weight, underweight, or an unkind and critical attitude towards your fit, healthy-weight body - is the second step towards tackling it.
The first? Grab your credit card, arm yourself with an attitude of self-acceptance, and splash out on one of these little fellas. You may never get round to weighing yourself - but it'll sure come in handy for checking your bags make the luggage limit on your next trip home.
Happy Holidays everybody!
