I recently did some research for an article that was requested by several readers to my website. The question was, Am I Overweight? This got me thinking about how we determine healthy weight and the tools we use such as 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.
There are several names for the healthy weight chart, some refer to it as the height weight chart but is essentially the same thing.
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.
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.
The problem is that some people especially those who are taller than the average person, can be given a false sense of security when using the height weight chart as a measure of healthy weight.
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 the vast majority of the population the height weight chart gives a realistic picture of where you are within the range of healthy weight.
So is the height weight chart a reliable indicator of healthy weight?
Be aware that these simple tools can produce some misleading results for some people:
We found that a taller than average man who was considered to be in the healthy weight range had developed some liver function problems.
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: 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.
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.
There are several names for the healthy weight chart, some refer to it as the height weight chart but is essentially the same thing.
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.
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.
The problem is that some people especially those who are taller than the average person, can be given a false sense of security when using the height weight chart as a measure of healthy weight.
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 the vast majority of the population the height weight chart gives a realistic picture of where you are within the range of healthy weight.
So is the height weight chart a reliable indicator of healthy weight?
Be aware that these simple tools can produce some misleading results for some people:
We found that a taller than average man who was considered to be in the healthy weight range had developed some liver function problems.
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: 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.
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