If you have trouble losing weight, it may be that you don't understand the science behind weight loss. Why does any of this matter? 50 percent of American are obese. That means you have too much body fat. Why Is That Important? Because excess body fat causes extra stress on the body. Your heart has to work harder which means your heart probably won't last as long. More stress on the heart can causes high blood pressure, and heart disease. Also added weight will cause stress on other organs like your liver.
You may have heard of BMI — body mass index. It’s based on your height and weight, and it’s widely used by doctors to tell who’s obese, who’s overweight (but not obese), who’s at a normal weight, and who’s underweight. But BMI has some drawbacks. It may not be the best way to size up your condition. And it says nothing at all about your fitness level. So how useful is BMI really? And what else might you use? First, you should know a little more about BMI. This is a measurement of your muscle mass vs. body fat. The idea is that your doctor should know your percentage of body fat and keep track of it. Why, you might ask. The more body fat you have, the higher risk you are for diseases.
First, you should know a little more about BMI. This is a measurement of your muscle mass vs. body fat. The idea is that your doctor should know your percentage of body fat and keep track of it. Why you might ask. The more body fat you have, the higher risk you are for diseases like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. As you gain weight or just get older, being overweight become a serious problem to your health.
I found this article on WebMD and it’s well worth reading. I wrote a post a few days ago about BMI and how Doctors and insurance companies use it.
BMI, calculated from a person’s height and weight, breaks down into four categories:
Underweight: BMI below 18.5
Normal: BMI ranging between18.5 and 24.9
Overweight: BMI ranging between 25 and 29.9
Obese: BMI of 30 or higher
“Probably for 90% or 95% of the population, BMI is just fine as a general measure of obesity,” says Richard L. Atkinson, MD, director of the Obetech Obesity Research Center. But some critics take a different view. Scott Kahan, MD, MPH, director of the National Center for Weight and Wellness believes that BMI has merit, particularly for scientific research.
“When you take a big population — thousands of people, tens of thousands of people — as part of a research study, it’s extraordinarily difficult to use anything more advanced than BMI,” he says. “BMI is cheap, it’s quick, and on average, it gives a reasonable measure that can be useful in most situations.”
But for you, or any other individual? BMI might not be the best.
Kahan specializes in helping patients manage excessive weight that can lead to health problems, including diabetes and heart disease. He notes that although BMI is useful as a quick screening tool by a doctor or nurse, it’s not enough just to look at a number. “Traditionally, we define obesity by a certain cut-off on the BMI scale,” he says. That amounts, he says, to judging whether a person is obese based only on that person’s size, something Kahan calls “antiquated and not terribly useful.”
You can find BMI calculators on the internet and you should know your number, but you want to remember that your number is only an indicator of your risk for diseases, it doesn’t tell what condition you're in. Your condition depends on many other factors. One very important factor is where your fat is located.
Are you shaped more like an apple, or a pear? The location of your fat may make a difference to your health.
There are exceptions, but generally, it’s the abdominal fat or the “apple” shape, that’s metabolically riskier. When fat settles around the waist instead of the hips, risk of coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes is more likely.
“That tends to be more metabolically active fat or fat that deranges your metabolism and your health parameters and ultimately leads to more risk,” Kahan says. The doctor is a little technical, but to put this in layman’s terms, “belly fat is more dangerous than fat on the hips or thighs.”
Fat that accumulates on the hips and thighs — the “pear” shape — isn’t as potentially harmful. “Many women have lower body obesity, so their hips and thighs are larger, but their waists are not so big,” Atkinson says. Fat lower down on the body doesn’t carry the same risk as belly fat, he says.
Other Ways to Measure
What else is there besides BMI? You may want to get out your measuring tape.
Waist Size: This is as simple as it gets: wrapping a tape measure around your waist. For an accurate waist measurement, Kahan says the tape measure should encircle your waist at the top of your hip bones in your lower back and go around to the belly button.
Men should limit waist size to no more than 39 or 40 inches; women, no more than 34 or 35 inches, Atkinson says.
Again, there are some racial differences. For example, the Joslin Diabetes Center states that Asian men should keep their waists no more than 35.5 inches; Asian women, no more than 31.5 inches.
Is it useful? Yes. “The data show that waist circumference can be very valuable,” Kahan says.
Waist-to-Height Ratio: This compares your waist measurement to your height. It may be even more helpful than waist circumference alone, according to Kahan. The goal is for your waist circumference to be less than half of your height. The last sentence may be the most important part of this article. This, in my opinion, is more important than BMI and easier to keep track of.
Waist-to-Hip Ratio: This compares your waist measurement to your hip measurement. Kahan doesn’t recommend this method. “We do have good data that using waist-to-hip ratio is not any more valuable than just using waist as a measurement,” he says.
Bioelectrical impedance scales: These scales send electrical currents through the body to assess fat and lean mass. They may be useful, according to Atkinson.
There are also better methods to measure body fat, such as MRIs and DEXA scans. But for most people, scans are not practical. “These things are much more accurate, but they’re much more expensive and much more difficult to do, so those are not likely to be reasonable options in the future,” Kahan says.
If you’re interested in learning more about BMI, I devoted part of my ebook on the topic.
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There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want to Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
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