Mark Dolliver's Takes: 'Overweight' Just Sounds Less Bad

Even as it becomes more common, obesity is the affliction that dare not speak its name. In a poll for the National Consumers League, 12 percent of adults identified themselves as “obese” and 52 percent as merely “overweight.” Using self-reported weight and height to calculate body mass index (BMI) data, though, the study found 34 percent are obese. Nor is this poll a fluke. An International Food Information Council Foundation poll found 9 percent of adults saying they’re obese, though BMI data put 36 percent in that class.