According to a recent survey of 11,000 people, 75% of obese Americans think their eating habits are healthy. In addition 40% claim to exercise vigorously at least 3x a week! The survey was conducted by an Ann Arbor based group called Thomson Medstat
"There is, perhaps, some denial going on. Or there is a lack of understanding of what does it mean to be eating healthy, and what is vigorous exercise," said Dr. David Schutt of Thomson Medstat, the Michigan-based health-care research firm that conducted the survey.
Obese people were slightly more likely to read food labels and eat out at restaurants than thinner people. Although obese people were more likely to eat ALL the food presented at a restaurant(41% vs 31% of thinner people), rather than take some home.
The survey did not ask about quantity of food eaten. But this certainly points to either gross misinformation, or flat out denial.
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Doesn't seem too unreasonable - you pretty much hit directly on the problem. You can eat "healthy", get low-fat, lots of vegetables, and so on, and still eat too much. Conversely, you can eat too little but eat a very crappy and unbalanced diet.
Sounds like just a semantic argument to me, not a river in egypt.
There are two difficult issues in terms of eating too many calories, which is the root problem. One is portion size, which can be tricky to get your mind around. The other is unaccounted munching on calorie-dense foods. You can get your five servings a day of fruits and vegetables, but if they accompany a breakfast croissant, a bologna sandwich, a salad with lots of full-fat dressing, lasagna, and a piece of cake, you're in deep calorie overload. You can also have healthy. low-calorie meals but not really notice the half a donut you ate midmorning, the cookies your co-worker brought in, and the three glasses of wine you drank with your dinner.
Many people have lots of issues surrounding food, comforting rituals that involve food, and difficulty thinking about eating properly without it impinging on their sense of self-worth (or lack thereof). They may be somewhat misinformed and somewhat in denial, but there's usually more going on than a rational analysis of the situation might suggest.
If you're eating too much, exercising three times a week isn't going to keep you from being obese. I exercise 5 to 7 times a week for at least 30 minutes and I still need to watch what I eat. Even then, I'm borderline "obese," with a BMI of around 28.
Much as the other commenters want to put a positive spin on it, my anecdotal experience indicates that this is mostly flat-out denial.