Bermudian women are more likely to try to lose weight than local men, but women are also more likely to use appetite suppressants and diet pills.

These are two of the findings Bermudian researcher Dr. Kyla Raynor found in her Body Weight Perceptions Study 2009 – the first conducted on the Bermuda population to determine the extent to which people's perception of their body shape and size were accurate.

It found that most people were accurate in determining if they were overweight, obese or normal weight.

This was promising because the findings of a Bermuda Government study in 2007 showed less than half of respondents correctly guessing that they were overweight. According to Dr. Raynor the findings of that study were in keeping with findings in the US.

"However in this study, across all weight categories, participants were mostly accurate in their assessment of their current body weight. For example, among overweight participants, 81.2 percent of men and 76.4 percent of women correctly categorised themselves as overweight, while 90.4 percent of men and 84.5 percent of women correctly categorised themselves as normal weight," the study said.

Why is this important? Local health care workers have stressed that it's pointless to try and get people to lose weight if they don't feel that they are overweight.

Although obesity is a major healthcare problem in the US and a growing one in Bermuda, people who feel their weight is normal or healthy don't feel they are at risk. Simply telling these people that they are overweight may not have much impact if their perception is that they are not.

Dr. Raynor said determining how Bermudians perceive their weight can help those in public health and other healthcare workers to better communicate their message. The report said: "The increasing rate of obesity has led to calls for more effective public health strategies addressing the risks of obesity and weight control. These findings will increase public health practitioners' knowledge of the beliefs held by the Bermuda adult population concerning body weight and weight control.

"Theoretically, knowing how this population perceives body weight may also help in improving the effectiveness of weight control initiatives."

For example, when men in the study were asked to choose an ideal body shape, they chose a normal body shape while women chose an underweight shape.

Using this information it's clear that weight campaigns will have to be gender specific, it also emerges that it may be useful to try and get women to alter their view of healthy weight. Recognising that healthy weight is 10 pounds heavier than they perceived might make losing weight easier, as the goal is not as far away as first thought.

Dr. Raynor also found that the extent to which people felt managing their weight was achievable correlated highly with their body weight satisfaction.

The report read: "Increased self-efficacy to control or maintain weight was associated with greater body weight satisfaction. Self-efficacy beliefs influence how people think about weight control, and it is those beliefs that motivate an individual to initiate or maintain weight control practices.

"Therefore in order to initiate or maintain weight control behaviour such as dieting and exercise, an individual must feel they are competent to implement the change."

Dr. Raynor said public health interventions that increase a person's self-efficacy may be essential in initiating weight loss and in maintaining weight control. She said she felt using this information could make a significant impact in the success of weight loss programmes in Bermuda especially among women.

The study also revealed that among those that correctly categorised their weight, more women tried to lose the weight than men. In normal weight women, 58.7 percent tried to lose weight compared to 14.3 percent of normal weight men. In overweight women, 81.1 percent tried to lose weight compared with 54.8 percent of men.

Dr. Raynor said women showed less satisfaction with their weight and figure and reported more use of unhealthy behaviours in their efforts to shed pounds, including use of over-the-counter appetite suppressants and diet pills. The study showed older people and those with a greater perception of the benefits of weight control as more likely to have healthy weight control behaviours. Those with less education were shown to be more likely to have unhealthy weight control behaviours.

For those at highest risk and for those who felt they were at high risk the study was particularly revealing.

"Respondents with a higher perception of the severity (seriousness) associated with becoming overweight or obese, and those with a higher perception of the benefits of weight control, were also more likely to engage in unhealthy weight control behaviour," the study read.

Dr. Raynor said these findings indicate that for successful weight control behaviour to occur, a person must feel threatened by his or her current behaviour, believe that the outcomes of overweight are serious, and believe that specific change will be beneficial.

Although she feels that her study is useful for health educators, Dr. Raynor said it also pointed out the importance of further research. She said the small sample she studied was not fully representative of the population, especially ethically.

She said: "The study should be replicated with a more representative sample of the adult Bermuda population. Research such as this is important because we need to develop a better understanding of how adults (and maybe later adolescents) see themselves, so that we can correct some of the misconceptions people have about body weight and healthy weight control.

"In general there is much that we do not know concerning health perceptions and behaviours among the adult Bermuda population. It is possible that Bermudians share the views of our Caribbean counterparts or that of Afro-Americans.

"However, it is also possible that the differences in our value systems may mean that we do not share those views. The information attained from such studies may change the way we approach educating Bermudians regarding their health."