Morbid obesity: a comparison between a general population and obesity surgery patients.

Characteristics of morbidity obese adults in the general population and morbidly obese adults presenting for obesity surgery were compared. Black morbidly obese women in the general population were less obese than black women obesity surgery patients, showed less emotional distress, and had fewer abnormal eating behaviours; age and socio-economic status were similar. A greater proportion of morbidly obese surgery patients were white women than would be expected either on the basis of the prevalence of morbid obesity in the general population or on census data. It was hypothesized that black women and white men avoid obesity surgery until they are physically debilitated by their overweight, while white women elect for obesity surgery when the emotional distress associated with obesity becomes debilitating.