Research Article Inherited or Behavior? What Causal Beliefs about Obesity Are Associated with Weight Perceptions and Decisions to Lose Weight in a US Sample? Sasha A. Fleary 1 and Reynolette Ettienne 2 1 Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, Tuts University, 105 College Avenue, Room 104 Medford, MA 02155, USA 2 College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1955 East West Road, AgSci 216, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Sasha A. Fleary; sasha.leary@tuts.edu Received 23 April 2014; Revised 25 June 2014; Accepted 6 July 2014; Published 23 September 2014 Academic Editor: Cheryl A. Gibson Copyright © 2014 S. A. Fleary and R. Ettienne. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objectives. To identify the extent to which (1) beliefs about obesity and obesity-related behaviors distinguish individuals based on weight perception (WP) and (2) beliefs about obesity predict perceived health status and WP and how these in turn predict decisions to try to lose weight. Method. 7456 noninstitutionalized US adults (M age = 54.13, SD age = 16.93; 61.2% female; 75.9% White) completed the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey. Multinomial logistic regressions and structural equation modeling were used to accomplish study objectives. Results. Age, gender, information-seeking, health status, belief that obesity is inherited, and knowledge of fruits and vegetables recommendations distinguished participants based on WP. Beliefs about obesity predicted health status, WP, and trying to lose weight in the general model. he models varied based on gender, race/ethnicity, education, and weight misperception. Conclusion. his study supports the role of beliefs about obesity, WP, and health perceptions in individuals’ decisions and actions regarding weight management. his study increases our understanding of gender, race/ethnicity, education, and weight misperceptions diferences in decisions to lose weight. his knowledge may lead to targeted interventions, rather than “one size its all” interventions, to promote health and prevent obesity. 1. Inherited or Behavior? What Causal Beliefs about Obesity Are Associated with Weight Perceptions and Decisions to Lose Weight in a US Sample? Obesity is a growing public health concern in the United States (US) and worldwide [1] with rates doubling among adults between 1980 and 2004 [2, 3]. hough no signiicant increase in prevalence rates has been noted since 2004, about two-thirds of US adults are overweight or obese [4]. Biolog- ical contributions to obesity include thyroid disease [5] and genetic predisposition [6], while major modiiable behav- ioral contributions include diet, physical activity (PA), and sedentary activity. Research has shown that self-perceptions and beliefs about weight status [7, 8] as well as beliefs about the origins of obesity, inluence individuals’ behaviors to improve their weight status [9]. In a study comparing weight perception (WP) to body mass index (BMI), Dorsey et al. [10] found that 40% of under- weight and overweight participants and 8% of obese partic- ipants misidentiied themselves as “about the right weight.” Bennett and Wolin [11] and Dorsey and colleagues [10] found signiicant weight misperceptions among ethnic minorities and individuals with lower education levels. Several research- ers have found that WP is just as important, if not more important, than actual BMI in inluencing obesity-related behaviors and perceive it as a barrier to reducing obesity [12, 13]. Additionally, Anderson et al. [14] found that, among overweight and obese women, those who were dissatisied with their body were nine times more likely to try to lose Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Scholarly Research Notices Volume 2014, Article ID 632940, 10 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/632940