Anti-obesity campaigners are calling in a psychologist to analyse why a staggering 96 percent of obese people did not class themselves as obese in a new survey.

Bermuda Diabetes Association (BDA) wants to find out the mental process which led to such a huge proportion of people classed as being beyond overweight either not recognising their problem or refusing to admit it.

One woman screened at this week's TCD initiative described her weight as normal even though she tipped the scales at 240 pounds and had a 42-inch waist.

Health bosses say unless people realise they are obese there is little chance of doing anything to combat the serious risks they face, including Type Two diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke.

Now BDA's anti-obesity campaigners are planning to meet the group's psychologist Jeremy Lodge to discuss questionnaire responses from more than 100 motorists who underwent screening at TCD.

Today, Royal Gazette readers are urged to find out whether they are obese by checking their body mass index on the table on this page.

Anybody who discovers they are obese should see their doctor.It comes after the TCD tests showed 47 percent of people were obese roughly double the 23 percent revealed in the Bermuda Health Survey last month.

The Bermuda Health Survey was shocking enough, as 23 percent would have put Bermuda fourth on a global list of major countries recently published in the UK, behind just the US, Scotland and Mexico.

BDA programme manager Sarah Burrows, who ran the tests at TCD, said it was vital to learn why so few people knew how heavy they were."I want to look at mental behaviour," she told this newspaper.

"Do they change information? Were they embarrassed? Most women didn't know what their measurements were. For waist size, most men could go by their trousers size, but why did women not know?"

"I will sit down and go through the forms and start writing stuff down. We have a psychologist at the diabetes association (Mr. Lodge). I would love to sit down and discuss it with him.

"The Department of Health's Public Health Consultant Betsy Baillie said:"People don't know what obesity is; that's the bottom line.

"Your weight just gradually creeps up. You are getting heavier and fatter but you don't think in terms of obesity."Obesity is a term health professionals have come up with to describe when you are fatter than overweight. It's not a magic number; it's based on your body mass index.

"Urging people to find out whether they are obese through today's chart, she added:

"A lot of people are very comfortable with their weight. It's not until they have health issues that they realise there's a problem.

"The TCD testing was an idea raised by the UK's obesity expert Jane DeVille-Almond, who visited the Island for a series of urgent meetings with medical workers after the Bermuda Health Survey results were unveiled.

TCD was chosen as a venue so frustrated motorists could be targeted for screenings during their notoriously long waits for service.Mrs. Burrows thanked staff for their accommodation, even adding that at one point TCD queues were moving so quickly it was difficult to find time to screen people.In the next few days, Mrs. Burrows will be flying to the UK to try to pick up more tips from the National Obesity Forum.