How much do you weigh? What is a healthy weight? How is your weight impacting on your overall health & life expectancy?
Let’s start with understanding your BMI otherwise know as your Body Mass Index.
Body Mass Index or more commonly, BMI, is one way of checking to see if you are a healthy weight. BMI uses a simple formula of height to weight ratio. BMI is usually measured in kg/m2. Having a BMI of between 18.5 – 25 is considered a healthy weight & your chances of developing a serious illness like cancer, heart disease and diabetes are much lower.
| Category | BMI range – kg/m2 |
| Severe Thinness | < 16 |
| Moderate Thinness | 16 – 17 |
| Mild Thinness | 17 – 18.5 |
| Normal | 18.5 – 25 |
| Overweight | 25 – 30 |
| Obese Class I | 30 – 35 |
| Obese Class II | 35 – 40 |
| Obese Class III | > 40 |
BMI on its own does not take into account the difference between weight coming from fat & weight from muscle. For this reason, it is best to also check your waist measurement at the same time to get a more accurate take.
A waist circumference of greater than 37” (94cm) for men & 32” (80cm) for woman will increase your risk of Cardio Vascular Disease. If your waist measures greater than 40” (101.6cm) for men & greater than 35” (88.9cm) for women that would substantially increase your risk of Cardio Vascular Disease & your GP would probably advise you to take action
Are you ready to take action?
Wanting to lose weight & doing what it takes to lose weight are two very separate challenges. Changes must be made for changes to happen. We all fall into 3 different modes of weight management throughout our lifetime, periods of weight loss, weight gain and weight maintenance. The amount of time we spend in one of these 3 modes to varying degrees depends on many things, our genes, body type, lifestyle & health. Understanding where we spend the majority of our time by the way in which we consume our foods and move is key to taking back charge of our weight, our activity levels & our physical & mental health.
Eating well combined with moving more won’t make you live forever but it will reduce your chances of developing a serious illness & increase your chance of recovery from same if you do.
According to the Centres of Disease Control & Prevention being over weight increases the risk of serious disease; including high blood pressure, high LDL (bad) cholesterol, lower levels of HDL (good) cholesterol, higher levels of triglycerides (a type of fat found in your blood), heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea & sleep problems, some types of cancer, low quality of life, increased chances of poor mental health, body aches & pains with certain physical functions, & generally a higher mortality rate than if your BMI were in the healthy range.
Likewise, being underweight has its own associated risks; malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies, anaemia, osteoporosis, decrease immune function, growth & development issues in children & teenagers, reproductive issues like amenorrhea (absence of a menstrual cycle), potential complications post-surgery, & a higher risk of mortality rate then if your BMI were in the healthy range.
BMI on its own is only 1 tool of many that should be factored in when considering someone’s overall body composition & general health. Your weight should be about how you feel not how you look. Therefore, it is good to also consider a person’s body fat percentage, muscle mass, visceral fat, body water, bone mass, age, activity level, gender before deciding what someone’s healthy weight should be.
Written by Lucy Looby Nutrition
