Most Americans Dislike Their Looks, Poll Finds : Health: Survey reports only 30% are happy with their appearance, and 42% say they are overweight. Only 11% believe they are in ‘excellent’ shape.
WASHINGTON — Although Americans live in a health-conscious society that often seems obsessed with diet and fitness, many are unhappy with their appearance, and only a fraction consider themselves in “excellent†physical shape, according to poll results released Saturday.
Most want to lose weight, flatten their stomachs and reduce their waist sizes, the survey shows. And women of all ages say they feel more overweight than men of the same age.
Those most satisfied with their looks tend to be young, white college graduates who exercise at least five hours a week and live in households with annual incomes of $50,000 or more.
These are among the findings of a survey on health, physical fitness and body image conducted by the Times Mirror Center for People & the Press. The institute is operated by the Times Mirror Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times and other newspaper, broadcasting and publishing enterprises.
The telephone survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates among 1,220 adults during the period of July 12-16. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The poll found that only 30% of adults are happy with their looks, and 42% say they consider themselves overweight.
“I don’t know that anyone is ever satisfied,†said Tom McDonough, director of marketing for the National Wellness Institute, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit health education organization.
“We have an image of our perfect self, and then we have an image of how we see ourselves, which is not necessarily the way others see us,†McDonough said when asked to comment on the report. “Since our perfect image is never realized, I think you’ll always hear: ‘No, I’m not perfect.’ But I’m not sure how that really translates into true health and wellness.â€
Middle-aged women and blacks seem prone to putting on excess weight, the poll found, while women of all ages--particularly middle-aged women--said they felt more overweight than men of the same age. Women between the ages of 30 and 64 were twice as likely to feel overweight than men, the survey found.
Only 53% of the respondents thought their weight was about right. That finding is similar to a 1987 Harris Poll in which 51% of participants said they thought their weight was appropriate.
In the new poll, 6% said they were overweight; 13% said they considered themselves “somewhat overweight;†and 23% “a little overweight.†Only 5% said they thought they were underweight.
Slightly more than half the respondents, 53%, described their general health as “good.†Only 27% called it “excellent,†while 15% said it was “fair.†Five percent said their health was “poor.â€
Nearly one in four adults said their physical fitness was only “fair,†while another 6% rated it as “poor.†Only 11% described themselves as being in “excellent†physical shape.
For example, Tom Baran, a 25-year-old chef from East Hartford, Conn., said he spends at least seven hours a week exercising.
“I’m around food all day long, and I don’t have a lot of free time,†he said. “I really work hard trying to stay in shape because I don’t want to fall into what the typical chef looks like.â€
While 73% said they believe that exercise can improve their health and extend their lives, only 59% said they exercise regularly, a figure virtually unchanged from a 1985 poll conducted by the A ssociated Press. The AP finding was 57%.
For those who do exercise, the poll found walking to be the most popular activity, with 47% saying they walked for fitness--a sizable increase from the 33% who listed walking as their principal exercise in the 1985 AP poll.
After walking, the list includes aerobics, 24%; running, 19%; weight-lifting, 17%; bicycling, 15%; exercise machines, 14%; and swimming, 13%.
The poll found walking’s popularity highest among people older than 50, with 74% of older women and 47% of older men saying they walked for exercise.
“I enjoy it, even though I get tired so quick,†said 80-year-old Mary Beard of Birmingham, Ala., who recently joined a number of indoor mall walkers to escape the Southern heat. “I can’t make more than three trips around the mall.â€
Among those who do not exercise regularly, the most frequent excuse--especially among men--was that their normal daily activities provide enough exercise, the poll found. Women, particularly those with children, said they just don’t have enough time to work out.
“If it’s important, you’ll make time,†said Joe Henderson, author of the book “Total Fitness: Training for Life.†“It doesn’t take a lot of time to become minimally fit, just two hours a week.â€
Henderson, who is also the West Coast editor of Runner’s World magazine, dismissed as “nonsense†the notion that people can get enough exercise through their typical daily routines.
“I come from the Midwest, where farmers were supposedly extremely fit because they work so hard,†he said. “This may have been true a generation ago, but today they’re driving around in their high-powered pickups and air-conditioned tractors. It’s still long and tiring work, but it’s not very physical.
“If supposedly the most active part of the population is not exercising as part of its daily work routine, then those who work in offices certainly aren’t,†he added.
