How Do You Know if You are Healthy or Not?
July 02 2008
How do you know you if could end up with diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, certain cancers, high cholesterol and osteoarthritis? Of course, these diseases are associated with obesity or overweight. But how do you know if you are just overweight or obese or just normal? Can you have a normal weight and still be at risk for the above diseases?
In this article, we will use two simple steps to know if you are healthy or not: Measurement & Assessment.
Measurement
There are three key measures which indicate you risk of having diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and so on. Let’s look at each.
Body mass index (BMI): BMI is number calculated from your height and weight, which shows if you are normal, overweight or obese.
How to measure BMI? Use the equation below to find your BMI. Or use the table (values are in pounds and inches) to find your weight level or BMI.
Table. Find your weight at the bottom of the graph. Go straight up from that point until you come to the line that matches your height. Then look to find your weight group.
Waist circumference: Weight is not the only risk factor; The location of your fat on our body is another risk factor and even more important that body weight.
How to measure waist circumference? Place a tape measure around your abdomen just above your hip bone. Make sure that the tape is snug, and is parallel to the floor. Exhale, and measure your waist.
Other risk factors: Besides weight & waist circumference, there are other risk factors too. Do you have any of these risk factors?
high blood pressure (hypertension)
high LDL-cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol)
low HDL-cholesterol (“good” cholesterol)
high triglycerides
high blood glucose (sugar)
family history of premature heart disease
physical inactivity
cigarette smoking
Assesment
Find your BMI or your weight classification from the table below and read across:
Now, remember that this table above gives only your disease risk relative to your normal body weight.
To find the absolute risk, you have to include the Other risk factors besides BMI & circumference. You have a high absolute risk factor and needs to lose weight and treat your risk factors urgently, if you are:
Obese (BMI > 30).
Overweight (BMI: 25 - 29.9) AND 2 or more risk factors.
Waist Greater than 40in (M) /35 in (F) waist AND have 2 or more risk factors.
Things to remember
- BMI do not take into account your muscle. So if you are an athlete or have a lot of muscle, BMI will not be accurate.
- Waist circumference is an independent predictor of disease risk. In some populations (Asian Americans and Asians) and older folks, waist circumference is a better predictor than BMI.
- You can be at normal body weight, but if you waist circumference is more than the recommended, you are still at risk.
Conclusion
Your BMI, waist circumference and presence of other risk factors determine you risk of getting serious diseases. If you know any of your friends or dear ones who you think can use this article, send it to them.
