People with weight problems are often accused of being in denial – but accepting the problem may lead to more weight gain, according to a new study.
A major analysis conducted at Liverpool University, UK, has found that people who acknowledge a weight problem tend to eat more to deal with the stress of the problem.
The researchers say that these people have "body image problems".
The conclusions come from an analysis of the records of some 14,000 adults in the USA and the UK, including those in the UK National Child Development Study.
The findings are reported in the International Journal of Obesity.
Researcher Dr Eric Robinson said: "Realising you are an overweight individual is in itself likely to be quite stressful and make making healthy choices in your lifestyle more difficult. It is a tricky finding for public health intervention work.
"You would hope that making a person aware they are overweight would result in them being more likely to adopt a healthier lifestyle and lose some weight."
He added: "But the way we talk about body weight and the way we portray overweight and obesity in society is something we can think about and reconsider.
"There are ways of encouraging people to make healthy changes to their lifestyle that don’t portray adiposity as a terrible thing."
International Journal of Obesity August 2015
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