Table 2.

Key themes and participants views

Themes	Obese	Overweight	Normal
Causes of overweight
Men	• Unhealthy diet/over-eating • Physical inactivity • Socio-economics status • Genetic make-up	• Unhealthy diet, • Lack of physical exercises • Fatness is culturally desirable	• Poor eating habits (junk food) • Cultural events
Women	• Over consumption of food • Eating fatty, junk and sugary foods • Inaccessibility to vegetables and fruits • Stress • Obesity comes with age • Cultural influences	• Stress • Over consumption of food • Eating fatty, junk and sugary foods • Lack of vegetables and fruits • Genetic make-up	• Poor eating habits • Unavailability of organic food • Genetic make-up • Cultural influences
Attitudes towards thinness and overweight
Men	• Thinness attributed to sickness or disease • Overweight is culturally acceptable • Overweight associated with happiness • Excessive body fat is not desirable	• Fatness attributed to laziness, tiredness and drowsiness • Much fat can be ‘unhealthy’ • Overweight is culturally acceptable • Overweight associated with happiness	• Being skinny makes you smart, healthy and good shape • Overweight socially acceptable • Overweight associated with happiness and respect
Women	• Overweight denotes good health, dignity, happiness and respect • Thinness indicates sickness, stress, unhappiness • Associates being thin to beauty and attractive to men	• Overweight is considered ‘normal’ weight/body size • Overweight associated with happiness; Obesity not a problem if inherited • Thin people are stigmatized	• Fatness means happiness • Too much ‘fatness’ can cause sicknesses
Body size perceptions
Men	• Unhappy with current weight/size • Uncomfortable with gaining more weight	• Satisfy with body weight • Others desire slim body sizes	• Prefer slim body size • Others desire little increase in weight
	• Larger silhouettes size 7–14 (overweight/obese categories) chosen as ideal normal size for a woman, and smaller silhouettes size 4–9 (normal/overweight) as ideal for a man
	• Underestimate body size	• Underestimate body size	• Accurately estimate body size
Women	• Perceive current size as ‘normal’ size • Happy with current body weight/size • Grossly obese desired reduced weight—if reported personal gains of weight loss	• Desire larger body size/weight gain • Desire no weight gain—if previously suffered chronic disease.	• Dissatisfy with current body size • Desire to be overweight
	• Women chose silhouettes size 13–15 (obese) as ideal for a woman and less than size 13 (overweight or normal) for a man • Obesity is associated with women; and ‘normal’ weight associated with men
Susceptibility to obesity
Men	Not applicablea	• Vulnerable if happy and wealthy	• Susceptible to overweight if indulge in overconsumption of food
Women	Not applicablea	• Vulnerable to obesity if indulge in unhealthy eating	• Believe of not being susceptible
Perceived obesity risk and threat of cardiovascular diseases
Men	• Perceived obesity as threat to health • Obesity leads to chronic conditions—high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and arthritis	• Chronic non-communicable disease, physical impairment, and regular pains • Obesity can lead to heart attack, • Being skinny equated to less or no health problems	• At risk of cardiovascular diseases • Obesity is not good at old age • Being fat leads to hypertension, heart attack, too much sleep
Women	• Obesity is attributed to laziness, sluggishness, stigma, and tiredness, difficulty getting size of clothing to buy • Associate obesity to diabetes and hypertension	• Low perceptions of threat • Excessive weight could cause chronic illnesses, and inactivity	• Attributes diabetes, stroke, hypertension and heart attack to overweight
Willingness to lose weight
Men	• Indicated intention to lose weight	• Desire for personal weight loss, or maintain current body size	• Currently undertakes job-related physical activities to maintain weight
Women	• Willing to lose weight in order to reduce health risk	• Intention to gain weight/maintain current weight	• Strong intention to gain more weight

^aObese and overweight participants were not asked if they are susceptible to overweight