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Perfect Pounds - Assessing Your Weight

Perfect Pounds – Assessing Your Weight

Overweight and obesity in the United States has reached epidemic proportions. Find out how you can assess your current weight status and implement strategies to main-tain a healthy weight in the years to come.

Weighty Matters

Thinking About Weight

According to several health experts, overweight and obesity has become the number one health problem in the United States today. The majority of Americans are either overweight or obese (extremely heavy), and the end appears to be nowhere in sight. Making the issue even more critical, obesity claims approximately 300,000 lives each year, second only to cigarette smoking.

Part of addressing this escalating health issue is taking personal responsibility for your own weight. The first step is to honestly and accurately assess your weight to deter-mine just how many pounds you may need to lose. This brochure will outline the three main ways to assess your weight as well as explore some simple strategies to help you maintain a healthy weight.

Three Factors For Weight Gain

Risk Around The Corner

Did You Know?

• A weight loss of five to 10 percent in excess body weight can significantly reduce risk factors and provide health benefits
• Overweight and obesity are associated with heart disease, certain types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, stroke, arthritis, breathing problems, and psychological disorders such as depression
• Obesity-related costs in the US total approximately $100 billion annually
• Americans spend an estimated $33 billion each year on weight loss products and services
• Each year, an estimated 300,000 US adults die of causes attributable to obesity
• Type 2 diabetes is nearly 3-4 times more prevalent in overweight adults than in lean adults
• Men who are more than 20 percent overweight have a 20-30 percent increase in death from prostate cancer
• The percentage of children and adolescents who are defined as overweight has more than doubled since the early 1970s

Source: Surgeon General, CDC, and Dr. Donnica.com

Why Are We Gaining So Much Weight?

Certainly, there are several contributing factors for why Americans are gaining so much weight—a problem so widespread is bound to be pretty complicated. But after all is said and done, experts agree on at least three key factors driving overweight and obesity in the US today. They are outlined below.

Factor #1: The Working Life

The world of work is changing. Cell phones, pagers, faxes, and e-mails now dominate our working lives. And while Americans aren’t working any less, they are moving less. 100 years ago, most people made their living through hard physical work—farming the land, building railroads, and burning calories. Today, more than half of us sit in front of a computer all day, burning very few calories at all. Even those of us not using comput-ers during the day are burning fewer calories because of technological advancements that make our work easier.

Factor #2: Food, Food, Food

Food is abundantly available—in fact, it’s everywhere. And America is eating it up. Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music—combined. Consider this. In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food; in 2000, they spent more than $110 billion.

Factor #3: Our Sedentary Society

In total, there are 168 hours in every week. The vast majority—nearly 70%—are de-voted to sedentary activities. Consider that employed adults work an average of 47 hours per week. In addition, the typical American spends 16 hours and 55 minutes sitting in front of the TV, and averages 50.6 hours of sleep. These three everyday activi-ties alone account for over 113 sedentary hours per week—almost five days of not moving!

Sources: Fast Food Nation, The Overworked American, and The National Sleep Foundation

The Right Weigh

Assessing Your True Weight Status

One of the most important steps people can take to protect their health is becoming aware of their true weight status. Our weight, be it healthy or not, can be an important risk factor for a number of diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. In fact, more than 300,000 Americans die each year from diseases caused or worsened by overweight and obesity. So, it’s important to know your true weight status.

You’re probably wondering, “How can I determine my true weight status? Unfortu-nately, because we tend to underestimate our weight, and overestimate our health, we need some help. The best way to measure our weight status is, “by the numbers.” This means using tools like Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference, or Waist-to-Hip Ratio. Don’t worry, they’re not as scary as they sound, and understanding them could be one of the most important things to know about your health. The rest of this bro-chure will help you understand a little bit more about each of these tools for determining your weight status.

Body Mass Index

Body Mass Index (BMI), is one of the best measures of our true weight status. Put sim-ply, BMI is a common measure expressing the relationship of weight-to-height, and is an easy calculation using inches and pounds. When calculated, your BMI will help you determine your true weight status as either underweight, normal, overweight, or obese.

These BMI ranges are based on the effect of weight status on disease and death. Generally, as a person’s BMI increases, so does their risk for a number of health condi-tions and diseases. These include the risk of premature death, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, cancer, and diabetes.

Calculating BMI You can calculate your BMI by using a simple mathematical formula. BMI = [Weight in pounds ÷ Height in inches ÷ Height in inches] x 703. For example, a person weighing 210 pounds and 6 feet tall would have a BMI that equals 28.5. To calculate this, we take their weight in pounds (210 lbs.) divided by their height in inches (72 inches), di-vided by their height in inches again (72 inches), and then multiply by 703.

e.g., BMI = [210 ÷ 72 ÷ 72] x 703 = 28.5
Chart number two, the BMI Chart, makes determining your BMI even easier. Simply find your height and weight and circle the number where the two lines intersect. This is your BMI.

Chart 1

Now that we know how to determine BMI, we can use this number to determine weight status (using chart number 1—underweight, normal, overweight, or obese). Remember, BMI values for adults are interpreted using a fixed number, regardless of age or sex, using the following guidelines:

Chart 2

Using chart one, we can tell that a BMI of 28.5 is clinically defined as being overweight. As chart number two shows, as BMI increases, your risk for disease increases as well.

Waist Circumference

Waist circumference is a common measure used to assess abdominal fat content. The presence of excess body fat in the abdomen, when out of proportion to total body fat, is a sign that you may be at risk for ailments associated with obesity.

The risk for diseases such as heart disease or arthritis increases with a waist measure-ment of over 40 inches in men, and over 35 inches in women.

To measure waist circumference, use a tape measure to comfortably measure the dis-tance around the smallest area below the rib cage and above your belly button.

Waist-to-Hip Ratio

Waist-to-Hip ratio (WHR) is the ratio of a person’s waist size to hip size, mathematically calculated as the waist size divided by the hip size. To calculate your waist-to-hip ratio, measure waist size at the navel in men, and midway between the bottom of the ribs and the top of the hipbone in women. Then measure hips at the tip of the hip bone in men and at the widest point between the hips and buttocks in women. Then divide your waist size by your hip size to get your waist-to-hip ratio. For example, if you are a male and your waste is 40” and your hips are 44”, your waist to hip ratio is .90 and within a healthy range.

Risky Ratios

For both men a waist-to-hip ratio of greater than .90 is considered risky. For women, a waist-to-hip ratio of .80 or higher is considered “at risk” or in the danger zone for undesirable health consequences.

Shedding Pounds the Right Way

Listed here you’ll find three key things to keep in mind when attempting to lose weight. Don’t forget to check with your healthcare provider before making important changes, and remember to take it slow. Getting hurt is no fun, and it will set you back in reaching your goals.

1. Adjust Your Diet. A few simple changes can make a big difference when it comes to what you eat. Be-cause one pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories, cutting just a few hundred calories out of your diet each day can go a long way. Easy ways to cut calories include eating less dressing and sauce and substituting an apple or banana for your afternoon candy bar.
2. Increase Physical Activity. We’re not talking about running a marathon here—in fact that’s the last thing you want to do if you’re just getting started. Begin to increase physical activity by making small changes like parking your car farther away from the entrance of a store or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Later, you may want to start taking short walks in the evening hours after work.
3. Avoid Fad Diets. Stay away from fad diets at all costs. Why? Plain and simple, they just don’t work. The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to adjust what you eat and get more activity into your daily routine.
   Here’s how you can spot a fad diet. Fad diets will often...
   • Promote miracle foods or formulas
   • Require little or no physical activity
   • Focus on rapid weight loss (more than two pounds a week)
   • Recommend rigid menus and plans
   • Require specific food combinations
   • Guarantee results

For More Information

US Food and Drug Administration
www.fda.gov

US Department of Agriculture
www.usda.gov

American Dietetic Association
www.eatright.org

A PUBLICATION OF THE
Wellness Councils of America
9802 Nicholas Street, Suite 315
Omaha, NE 68114-2106
Phone: (402) 827-3590
Fax: (402) 827-3594
www.welcoa.org

©2006 Wellness Councils of America

The information contained in this brochure has been carefully reviewed for accuracy. It is not intended to replace the advice of your physician or health care provider.