Are you overweight and in danger?

When considering whether you are overweight, three things should be taken into account…

• Your BMI or Body Mass Index
• Your waist measurement
• Disease and conditions – the risk factors related to obesity

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Excessive body fat can lead to a high risk of disease and even death. Men and women are equally at risk.

Waist measurement

Your waist measurement indicates your abdominal fat, an important factor in predicting heart disease and other possible diseases. The larger the waist, the greater the risk. As a general rule, a measurement of more than thirty-five inches for women and forty inches for men is high risk, and you should work at losing weight as soon as possible.

Other Risks related to obesity

• cigarette smoking
• high blood sugar or glucose
• Hypertension or high blood pressure
• inactivity physical life
• high triglycerides, which is a combination of three fatty acids and glycerol, the main constituent of oils and fats
• heart disease in the family
• low HDL cholesterol or good cholesterol
• high LDL cholesterol or bad cholesterol

Check you body fat risk

If you have a BMI higher than thirty, you are categorized as obese. A BMI of twenty-five to just under thirty is classified as overweight.

If you also have more than one risk factor (see the list above), it is highly recommended that you lose weight as soon as possible.

Set yourself a target to lose weight by at least ten to fifteen per cent to reduce the danger of developing a disease related to obesity. If you are overweight, but your waist measurement is not too high and you do not have associated risk factors, you would just need to focus on avoiding weight gain rather than weight loss.

It’s best to consult your doctor to see if you should be working on losing weight.

At the end of the day, though, if you are uncomfortable, feel that you are too fat, embarrassed by your obesity, or just want to feel healthier, it’s time to sign up with a good weight loss program.