People's beliefs about what causes obesity may affect their waistlines, according to a new report.
People who named a lack of exercise as the main cause of obesity were more likely to be heavier than those who blamed a poor diet, according to the findings.
"Across multiple studies, we found the first evidence that people generally have two different lay theories about what causes obesity, and that these beliefs impact people's actual likelihood of being overweight," wrote the study authors, led by Brent McFerran, a marketing professor and social psychologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.