Object in the mirror is thinner than it appears

More than one out of every three people in Seoul consider themselves fat - although far fewer actually are, a survey showed yesterday.

According to a survey of 2,294 Seoul citizens conducted late last year by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 32.2 percent replied that they are overweight, 10.9 percentage points higher than the actual overweight rate of 21.3 percent.

Due to the perception gap, about 53 percent of the respondents said they have made efforts to lose weight or slim their waistlines over the past year.

The rate was up by 6.2 percentage points from the same survey conducted in 2008.

The survey released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in time for World Health Day also showed that people are increasingly concerned about their health and thus trying to lose weight, quit smoking, drink less and receive regular medical check-ups.

Among smokers, 30.2 percent said they are willing to quit within a month, up from 22.3 percent in 2008.

Nearly 49 percent answered they had tried to quit smoking for more than 24 hours within the past year, an increase from 43.7 percent in 2008.

The share of “high-risk drinkers” declined from 20.3 percent to 17.1 percent year-on-year. High-risk drinkers are those who drink more than twice a week, with men having more than seven drinks and women five drinks each time.

There was also a boost in the number of citizens getting regular medical checkups. More than 57 percent of citizens said they have had a medical checkup during the last two years, up from 51.2 percent in 2008.

Yonhap