Are you overweight? Are you a normal weight? Do you know how much you actually weigh?

These and many more, are the questions Kyla Raynor, who is pursuing her doctorate from Loma Linda University in California, is seeking to answer in a body weight perceptions and weight control study.

She wants to understand how Bermudian adults perceive their weight and how that, then, influences their behaviour towards their health.

It is a question that she formed when the Department of Health released the statistics last year that showed 40 percent of adults are overweight and 24 percent are obese.

She said: "I asked what's going on in my country? I was taken aback by the results of children and the perceptions of weight by the adults is a project I became interested in.

"We want to see how far the discrepancies are between the current weight and what is normal.

"And how do they perceive themselves; their body image. If they do know they are overweight are they taking control of it?

"I have (so far) found that folks don't really have an accurate perception of their weight and that's what we are looking at."

The information could be vital as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancers that are affected by weight spiral out of control.

That is why Ms Raynor has linked with the Bermuda Diabetes Association and has help from the King Edward VII Memorial hospital as she hopes this Bermuda-specific study will aid in their struggle against these diseases.

She's trying to find 400 Bermudians or permanent residents of any weight and any race, socio-economic group to participate in her study.

The participation will take only about 15 minutes and is completely voluntary. You will be asked to fill out a survey and then to have measurements such as your height, weight, waist and hips taken.

All the results are confidential, though the participant will be able to walk away with their personal information as well as be able to ask for a copy of the entire study in the spring when Ms. Raynor completes it.

She added: "We may know we are chubby, but don't know whether that is overweight or obese and that could change whether they are taking action or not.

"Everyone (in the study) gets their results and they are able to see for themselves what's normal and what's overweight."

For more information contact Ms. Raynor at 737-0177 or via email at: kraynor@llu.edu