BMI, Waist Size, and Other Ways to See if You’re Overweight

The concept of body positivity is gaining popularity all over the world. Body positivity is a concept that promotes accepting and appreciating various types of bodies like underweight and overweight that are usually considered as disproportionate. There is an age-old concept that an hourglass figure with a slim waist is a desirable body shape. On the other hand, underweight and overweight people must suffer body shaming. Such type of body shaming is unethical.

While it is true that accepting and loving your body the way it is very important. It is okay if you don’t have an hourglass figure, but this doesn’t mean you must neglect being healthy. Both the cases of being underweight and overweight can lead to severe health conditions. Being overweight can lead to many health issues like cardiovascular disease, specific cancers, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney diseases, etc. Other than these, there are other reasons which show the importance of overcoming overweight health status.

• Reduces fertility – Excess fat in the body impacts many systems in the body, including women’s reproductive system. Overweight women are more likely to have irregular periods.
• Insomnia – Excess fat accumulation, especially in the belly area, prevents the expansion of lungs leading to breathing issues. This creates an obstacle in having a sound sleep.
• Chronic diseases – As discussed earlier, overweight is the root cause of many major diseases like high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, etc.
• Affects emotional health – There is a relation between the fats in your body and your mental health. The excess fats in the body increase stress and can lead to depression.

The first step of fighting overweight issues is finding out that you have excess weight. In order to know it, there are various methods. Two of the most popular methods are BMI and Waist size measurement.

1. BMI – BMI or body mass index is a simple method that calculates body fatness based on the ratio of the weight in relation to the height. This method is useful to indicate health status in adults. Based on the calculations, the health status is categorized under different categories, such as underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and obese. The formula to calculate BMI is weight (kg) / [height (m)]2. Even though there is a strong correlation between BMI and body fat measurement, BMI still has certain limitations based on age, gender, physical activities, etc. Calculating BMI is made easier with the introduction of the online BMI calculator.

2. Waist size measurement – One of the easiest ways to find whether a person is overweight or not is by knowing a person’s waist size. If a woman’s waist size exceeds 35 inches and a man’s waist size exceeds 40 inches, then it suggests overweight status. It also shows excess fat accumulation around belly and other vital organs increasing risks of high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, and metabolic syndrome.

Remember, this procedure is useful to know about body fatness but doesn’t give you any strong status about the amount of fat in the body.