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.
The healthy weight chart is a fairly crude formula that takes into account many general factors relating to the overall body shape of a person.
The healthy weight chart or height weight chart can give a result that leaves some people confused.
Let me explain. These two tools are used as a basis for the calculation of the well known BMI measurement system for measuring Body Mass Index.
There are some questions about the accuracy of this system. The height weight chart has been around for several decades and many of us have seen it pinned up on the medical practitioner's wall when we have visited the surgery.
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 healthy weight of an individual can vary and the height weight chart is intended to be used as a guideline to determine if a man or woman is in the healthy weight range.
Healthy weight range like many other similar systems is designed by taking in information from many sources of population data and averaging it out to produce the system.
For most people the height weight chart gives quite an accurate indication of where you are within the band of the healthy weight range.
So is the height weight chart a reliable indicator of healthy weight?
Caution, there are cases where the results have been incorrect for example:
Our subject who was over 6 feet in height was given a false assessment when using the methods discussed above. His physician has said he is at risk of fatty liver disease because of his accumulation of abdominal fat.
Fatty liver disease is thought to be related to the amount of fat that is carried around the abdomen.
If you are quite a tall person and you have a large tummy, it is advisable you choose a healthy lifestyle in terms of dietary intake and exercise in order to significantly reduce abdominal fat.
Conclusion: Many practitioners are now moving towards the use of body fat percentage as a safer and more reliable method of calculating health risks relating to being overweight.
The healthy weight chart is a fairly crude formula that takes into account many general factors relating to the overall body shape of a person.
The healthy weight chart or height weight chart can give a result that leaves some people confused.
Let me explain. These two tools are used as a basis for the calculation of the well known BMI measurement system for measuring Body Mass Index.
There are some questions about the accuracy of this system. The height weight chart has been around for several decades and many of us have seen it pinned up on the medical practitioner's wall when we have visited the surgery.
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 healthy weight of an individual can vary and the height weight chart is intended to be used as a guideline to determine if a man or woman is in the healthy weight range.
Healthy weight range like many other similar systems is designed by taking in information from many sources of population data and averaging it out to produce the system.
For most people the height weight chart gives quite an accurate indication of where you are within the band of the healthy weight range.
So is the height weight chart a reliable indicator of healthy weight?
Caution, there are cases where the results have been incorrect for example:
Our subject who was over 6 feet in height was given a false assessment when using the methods discussed above. His physician has said he is at risk of fatty liver disease because of his accumulation of abdominal fat.
Fatty liver disease is thought to be related to the amount of fat that is carried around the abdomen.
If you are quite a tall person and you have a large tummy, it is advisable you choose a healthy lifestyle in terms of dietary intake and exercise in order to significantly reduce abdominal fat.
Conclusion: Many practitioners are now moving towards the use of body fat percentage as a safer and more reliable method of calculating health risks relating to being overweight.
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