I am posting this article in response to a FAQ from my website. Many people are asking how they know if by being overweight they are putting their health at risk and what is being overweight? This got me looking into BMI, body Mass Index and the healthy weight chart.
When using the healthy weight chart as a means to determine if we are overweight we need to remember that this is a very broad and simplistic method.
There are several names for the healthy weight chart, some refer to it as the height weight chart but is essentially the same thing.
To clarify, these charts can be used to produce a rough idea of where we are in a healthy weight range, what band we fall into based on a height and weight formula.
If you are not familiar with these charts you may well have seen one pinned to your doctor's wall in his surgery, but this method of calculating healthy body mass is not without its critics.
There is a particular problem with the modern diet that means that many of us now carry excessive and disproportionate amounts of fat around our waistline.
The height weight chart is used to give an approximation of whether you are within a healthy weight range.
The healthy weight range system is a collection of data from many thousands of people worldwide and is designed using an average of many different people's data.
For the vast majority of the population the height weight chart gives a realistic picture of where you are within the range of healthy weight.
Because of the generalised nature of these tools you should always look at other factors besides the height weight chart to be confident in the accuracy of your result.
In some cases the results for certain individuals when using these methods proved to be wrong.
We found that a taller than average man who was considered to be in the healthy weight range had developed some liver function problems.
If you are tall but carry excessive weight around your abdominal region you should seek medical advice as you may be at increased risk of disease.
Men with an abdominal circumference of above 40 inches who are over 6 feet tall could be mislead as they may be considered in the overweight but not at risk category according to their BMI using the healthy weight chart.
Conclusion: Instead of relying on a generalised BMI healthy weight system you should pay attention to fat distribution in the abdominal region and also overall body fat percentage as a more accurate and personalised approach to determining healthy weight.
When using the healthy weight chart as a means to determine if we are overweight we need to remember that this is a very broad and simplistic method.
There are several names for the healthy weight chart, some refer to it as the height weight chart but is essentially the same thing.
To clarify, these charts can be used to produce a rough idea of where we are in a healthy weight range, what band we fall into based on a height and weight formula.
If you are not familiar with these charts you may well have seen one pinned to your doctor's wall in his surgery, but this method of calculating healthy body mass is not without its critics.
There is a particular problem with the modern diet that means that many of us now carry excessive and disproportionate amounts of fat around our waistline.
The height weight chart is used to give an approximation of whether you are within a healthy weight range.
The healthy weight range system is a collection of data from many thousands of people worldwide and is designed using an average of many different people's data.
For the vast majority of the population the height weight chart gives a realistic picture of where you are within the range of healthy weight.
Because of the generalised nature of these tools you should always look at other factors besides the height weight chart to be confident in the accuracy of your result.
In some cases the results for certain individuals when using these methods proved to be wrong.
We found that a taller than average man who was considered to be in the healthy weight range had developed some liver function problems.
If you are tall but carry excessive weight around your abdominal region you should seek medical advice as you may be at increased risk of disease.
Men with an abdominal circumference of above 40 inches who are over 6 feet tall could be mislead as they may be considered in the overweight but not at risk category according to their BMI using the healthy weight chart.
Conclusion: Instead of relying on a generalised BMI healthy weight system you should pay attention to fat distribution in the abdominal region and also overall body fat percentage as a more accurate and personalised approach to determining healthy weight.
About the Author:
If you would like to learn more about healthy weight see this article height weight chart and BMI calculator
No comments:
Post a Comment