Most overweight children and adolescents believe their weight levels are just fine, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even if they are overweight.

About 81 percent of overweight boys ages 8 to 15 think they weigh just about as much as they should, according to the survey. Girls were a little more critical, but still 71 percent of those technically overweight said they were about normal. The study also found that children who were about where they should be sometimes thought they were either too heavy or too light.

Weight misperceptions were most common among kids who came from lower-income families—the same kids who are at the most risk of being overweight. “As our country gets heavier, children don’t necessarily see it as abnormal,” says Dr. Daniel Neides, medical director for the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. (Time)

Paul Asay has written for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for PluggedIn and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He recently collaborated with Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, on his book The Good Dad. He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.