This is scientific American 60 Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. Got a minute?

Obesity increases your risk for heart disease and stroke, diabetes and even forms of cancer. So it's probably a good idea to get in the habit

of eating right and exercising while you're still young. But teens get mixed messages about

what's a healthy body weight. They're bombarded with unrealistic images of ultra-skiny celebrities

and models, while also seeing media coverage of obesity that includes photos of those who are

exceptionally obese. So a group of researchers in the UK wanted to know, do British teens have an accurate sense of where they fall along the weight scale?

They examined data from nearly 5,000 13 to 15 year olds collected between 2005 and 2012 by what's called the Health Survey for

England.

Of the group, nearly three quarters were normal weight, 20 percent were overweight, with 7 percent

obese.

The survey asked this question for that age group. Given your

age in height, would you say that you are about the right weight, too heavy or too

light? Despite the thin celebrity saturated culture, 83 percent of normal weight adolescents thought they were, in fact, a normal

weight. Not surprisingly, the data changed by gender. 11% of normal weight girls thought they were

too heavy compared to just 4% of boys. But the bad news, nearly 40% of the

overweight and obese teens did not self-identify as too heavy.

Overweight girls recognize the issue more than boys did.

Nearly half the boys did not think that they were too heavy.

The study is in the International Journal of Obesity.

The researchers say the data on overweight teens, particularly boys, quote,

may have implications for the future health and well-being

of young people, and that overweight teens are substantially more likely to become overweight

...