Self-assessed health
A person's perception of their own health is a useful measure of their current health status. In the 2007-08 NHS, people were asked to provide a general assessment of their own health selecting from a five-point scale (excellent, very good, good, fair and poor).
After adjusting for age, obese people were less likely to perceive their health as excellent, very good or good (78%) compared with normal weight and overweight people (90% and 87% respectively). Consequently, more obese people rated their health as fair or poor than people in these other weight ranges (Graph 6.1).
6.1 Measured Body Mass Index(a)(b), by Self-assessed health
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