Live Life Team
WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF OBESITY
A simple way is to take the actual weight by stepping on the scale and then compare it with the ideal weight which can be obtained from any diet or health book, but the more scientific way is dividing actual weight in kilogram by height in meters squared which is known as the BMI. An ideal BMI is in the range of 20 to 25 and a person is overweight if BMI is between 25 to 30, and obese if between 30 to 40 and morbidly absue if above 40 and this information is also available in some electronic weighing scales and modern gyms. Information of BMI, ethnic group and waist circumference are all important factors for the doctor to assess the risk of having health problems related to obesity.
Calculation of BMI can be done as follows:-
Note down the height in meters and this figure is multiplied by itself which is called the squared figure.
Note down the weight in kilograms
Divide the weight by the squared number you got in Step 1
The answer to Step 3 is known as BMI
This can be explained by the following example:
Suppose Height is 1.65 meters, then multiply 1.65 X 1.65 which is 2.72 also called as square of 1.65
Suppose weight is 58 kg
Divide 58 kg by 2.72
BMI figure is 21.3
REASONS OF OBESITY
Obesity is a gradual process which starts from poor eating habits and diet and choosing a low quality lifestyle. To a certain extent it is also linked to the genes.
Quality of Life Style: It plays a very important role in influencing the weight of a person. Having excess quantity of food than is required in terms of calories combined with poor choice of food like, having high fat content food, taking fast or processed food instead of vegetables, fruits and unrefined carbohydrates(brown rice and wholemeal bread.) Similarly Alcohol is also a heavy calories drink and people who are heavy drinkers are generally found to be overweight.
Poor eating habits are normally picked up by children from their parents and if a person is obese in childhood, it is very likely that he will have health problems related to his weight in latter part of his life as unhealthy choice of lifestyle are likely to be carried on in adulthood.
Inadequate physical activity: These days due to the nature of jobs which involve deskwork for most part of the day and always traveling by car lead to lack of physical activity in the daily routine life. Watching television, playing games on computer in relax times further ensures there is no physical exercise as a result the stored up energy in terms of extra calories is converted into fat resulting in obesity.
It is often seen that in some cases the weight of some persons does not change for years without making much effort on their part, whereas in other cases if those persons are not careful, they tend to put on weight very fast. Scientist have found out that there are certain genes in people which make them feel more hungry and it take more time for them to make them feel full as a result they put on weight very quickly.
Obesity due to medical reasons are rare and is one in every 100 cases which can be either due to Cushing’s syndrome condition (excess steroid hormones produced by the body) or due to thyroid gland being under active. Some medicines which include antidepressants, contraceptive pills and steroid are also responsible for weight gain. Similarly appetite increases when a person quits smoking.
