A. What is the purpose of a doctor weighing you? Determine how much fat you have, particularly harmful fat. There are various clever and expensive methods for determining one's body fat percentage, but they are most useful in research investigations.
Your total body weight, of course, indicates not only the amount of fat in your body but also the amount of numerous other tissues — muscle, liver, heart, and brain, to name a few. Additionally, if you are taller, the total weight of your body tissues is likely to be greater.
As a result, scientists developed the body mass index, or BMI, a measurement based on a person's weight and height. Numerous studies have demonstrated that a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 represents a healthy weight, 25 to 29.9 suggests obesity, and 30 or above indicates morbid obesity. Obesity is related to poor health and earlier mortality.
The BMI is calculated by combining your weight and height, as being overweight is proportional to your height. For instance, if you weigh 200 pounds and stand 6 feet 4 inches tall, you are not overweight; nevertheless, if you weigh 200 pounds and stand only 5 feet tall, you are significantly overweight – indeed, obese.
While BMI is a far more accurate indicator of health than weight alone, it is not without limitations. It does not do as well in assessing body fat in older persons as it does in younger adults. And it makes no distinction between belly fat and fat found in other areas of the body, such as the hips. Excess abdominal fat is more detrimental to your health than other types of fat.
As a result, waist circumference has been researched as a health indicator. It is measured around your natural waist, which is defined as the area between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone, or around the belly button. It is a highly accurate method of assessing abdominal fat. Increased waist circumference is a major predictor of poor health and death earlier in life. However, standardizing precisely where to measure the waist circumference is difficult: two different health professionals may obtain somewhat different measures of your waist circumference.
Additionally, the link between the waist and hip measurements is utilized. A higher waist-to-hip ratio increases the likelihood of negative health consequences and early death. Regrettably, like the waist measurement, the hip measurement is difficult to standardize.
Because weight and height are easy to measure, most doctors estimate your body fat percentage using these two parameters, and hence your BMI, rather than one of the other measurements. It is critical to keep a healthy BMI. As a result, scientists developed the body mass index, or BMI, a measurement based on a person's weight and height. Numerous studies have demonstrated that a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 represents a healthy weight, 25 to 29.9 suggests obesity, and 30 or above indicates morbid obesity. Obesity is related to poor health and earlier mortality.
The BMI is calculated by combining your weight and height, as being overweight is proportional to your height. For instance, if you weigh 200 pounds and stand 6 feet 4 inches tall, you are not overweight; nevertheless, if you weigh 200 pounds and stand only 5 feet tall, you are significantly overweight – indeed, obese.
While BMI is a far more accurate indicator of health than weight alone, it is not without limitations. It does not do as well in assessing body fat in older persons as it does in younger adults. And it makes no distinction between belly fat and fat found in other areas of the body, such as the hips. Excess abdominal fat is more detrimental to your health than other types of fat.
As a result, waist circumference has been researched as a health indicator. It is measured around your natural waist, which is defined as the area between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone, or around the belly button. It is a highly accurate method of assessing abdominal fat. Increased waist circumference is a major predictor of poor health and death earlier in life. However, standardizing precisely where to measure the waist circumference is difficult: two different health professionals may obtain somewhat different measures of your waist circumference.
Additionally, the link between the waist and hip measurements is utilized. A higher waist-to-hip ratio increases the likelihood of negative health consequences and premature death. Regrettably, like the waist measurement, the hip measurement is difficult to standardize.
Because weight and height are easy to measure, most doctors estimate your body fat percentage using these two parameters, and hence your BMI, rather than one of the other measurements. It is critical to keep a healthy BMI.
Information Source: Health Harvard.