According to a Gilani Research Foundation Survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, 56% Pakistanis think they are appropriately weighted; 27% think they are somewhat overweight.
A nationally representative sample of adult men and women, from across the four provinces was asked, “Please think about your current body weight and tell us whether you think you are currently very overweight, somewhat overweight, appropriately weighted, somewhat underweighted or very underweighted?” In response to this question, 5% respondents said they are very overweight, 27% said they are somewhat overweight, 56% said they are appropriately weighted, 8% said they are somewhat underweight, 3% are very underweight, and 1% did not respond.
This question was also asked in America in November 2014 by Gallup USA (not related to Gallup Pakistan). There are slight differences in the perceptions of body weight between American and Pakistan people. While equal number of respondents in both countries said they are appropriately weighted, 32% Americans said they are somewhat overweight compared to 27% Pakistanis. Pakistanis are more likely to consider themselves underweight with 8% saying they are somewhat underweight compared to 5% Americans, and 3% saying they are very underweight compared to 1% Americans.
According to the gender breakdown among Pakistanis, men are slightly more likely to think they are very overweight, somewhat underweight or very underweight. Equal number of men and women think they are somewhat overweight (27%), while women (59%) are more likely to think they are appropriately weighted than men (54%).
