Assessment of weight Related health Risks
Assessment of weight and health risk involves using three key measures:
- Body mass index (BMI)
- Waist circumference
- Risk factors for diseases and conditions associated with obesity
Body Mass Index (BMI)
BMI is a useful measure of overweight and obesity. It is calculated from your height and weight. BMI is an estimate of body fat and a good gauge of your risk for diseases that can occur with more body fat. The higher you’re BMI, the higher your risk for certain diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, breathing problems, and certain cancers.
Although BMI can be used for most men and women, it does have some limits:
- It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build.
- It may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle.
Waist Circumference
Measuring Waist Circumference helps screen for possible health risks that come with overweight and obesity. If most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you’re at a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This risk goes up with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men. To correctly measure your waist, stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones. Measure your waist just after you breathe out.
How to Calculate BMI
Here is a Method for Calculating BMI. (Example:- Person 5 feet 7 inches tall, Weighing 184 lbs.)
1. Multiply weight (in pounds) by 703 184 x 703 = 129,352
2. Divide the answer in step 1 by height (in inches) 129,352 /67 = 1,930
3. Divide the answer in step 2 by height (in inches) to get your BMI 1,930/67 = 28.8
BMI = 28.8
BMI Chart
Underweight <18.5
Normal 18.5–24.9
Overweight 25.0–29.9
Obesity >30.0–
Extreme Obesity >40.0–
Risk Factors of Overweight/Obese
[…] Overweight and obese people have an increased incidence of heart disease, and thus fall victim to heart attack, congestive heart failure, sudden cardiac death, angina, and abnormal heart rhythm more often than those that maintain a healthy body mass index. Obesity often increases the risk of heart disease because of its negative effect on blood lipid levels, which increase in obese patients and then, in turn, increase triglyceride levels and decrease high-density lipoprotein – which is also known as HDL or “good cholesterol.”The heart and blood flow is the number one affected system when one is overweight. There is the congenital heart failure where the blood finds it difficult to pump blood. This is usually because of excess fats or plaque that gets stuck on the artery or vein walls. There is also enlargement of heart due to thickening of the heart muscle. Then a pulmonary embolism may also become a health problem. This is when the pulmonary artery gets blocked due to fat, amniotic fluid, or blood clot. All these pose risks to stroke or sudden death. Obesity […]
Older folks tend to create a bigger BMI then younger people and athletes may tend to possess a bigger BMI then non-athletes on the grounds that of the make up of muscle that they’ve got. So, whenever using the BMI calculator as a tool for examine, these aspects will have to be taken right into account and proven working with other suggests for example skin fold tests, x-ray research and underbody analyzing.