Am I Overweight?
The fact that you’re visiting this Web site means you either feel that you are overweight, or you actually are. Perhaps you ask yourself the question that is in the title of this article: Am I Overweight? The answer is often based as much on feelings and emotions as on actual data, and therefore very subjective. In scientific and medical terms:
* You are overweight if you weigh more than your recommended body weight range in the chart you can see on the Am I Overweight page. The Body Mass Index (BMI) table on the same page is another measure, a figure that represents the percentage of your body weight that is due to fat. It is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters. In other words the algebraic expression for BMI is: BMI = Kg / (m)2. BMI ratings between 20 and 25 are considered in the healthy range, and ratings between 26 and 30 are considered overweight.
* But BMI may overestimate body fat or inaccurately estimate total body fat in muscular persons or those losing muscle, according to the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute. Older people who have lost muscle mass have more fat for a given BMI than do younger people, as as result. That’s why waist measurement is often checked as well. Too much body fat in the stomach area also increases disease risk, which is another reason. Waist size of more than 35 inches in women and more than 40 inches in men is considered too large.
* Obesity is defined as being more than 20 percent over your recommended body weight range. The chart indicates that a 5’6” person’s recommended weight range goes as high as 154 pounds, for example. Twenty percent of 154 (154 X .2) equals 30.8. Rounded up to 31 and added to the base weight of 154, it would indicate that a person who is 5’6” and weighs 185 is considered to be obese. BMI ratings between 30 and 39 are also considered to be indicative of obesity.
* Someone who has a BMI rating of 40 or more or is more than 100 pounds more than his or her recommended body weight range is considered morbidly obese.
