Many of these people clearly recognize that they should lose weight and have made a New Year's resolution to do so, including 62% of the morbidly obese, 59% of the obese and 49% of the overweight.
Many of those who are overweight have participated at some time in their lives in programs to try to manage their weight. In most cases these were their own personal programs rather than formal programs run by weight loss companies such as Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig, or programs by their employers or insurance companies. However it is notable that 19% of the morbidly obese, 27% of the obese and 31% of the overweight have never participated in any weight management program, even one of their own.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,566 adults surveyed online between January 17 and 24, 2011 by Harris Interactive.
Some other interesting findings in this survey include:
- Fully 44% of all adults say that they made a New Year's resolution to lose weight, including 47% of women and 40% of men;
- One in five adults (19%) report that their weight has caused them health problems, including 64% of the morbidly obese and 23% of the obese; and,
- A third of all adults (32%) have been told by their doctors that they should lose weight. However, as noted above many of those who are overweight (and even 19% who are morbidly obese) have never been told that they should do so.
So What?
Obesity and the need to greatly reduce it has become a front page story. First Lady Michelle Obama has made childhood obesity her cause. A new study by the Society of Actuaries calculates that the total cost of overweight and obesity in the United States is about $270 billion per year. And a paper published recently in the medical journal The Lancet claims that one in every ten adults on the planet are now obese. Furthermore, it is predicted that this obesity epidemic will trigger a huge increase in many diseases from diabetes and arthritis to several types of cancer, heart disease and depression.
This survey suggests that we are doing a reasonably good job of warning people of the need to lose weight. However, it also points up the need to get doctors much more involved in weight loss, and to greatly increase participation in weight management programs.
For more information about weight loss programs at Derma Health Institute of Arizona, go to:
http://www.dermahealthinstitute.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=66&Itemid=108
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
