Diet Blog

Obesity is a word that scares everyone. It predispose to various serious disease like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, sleep apnea and degenerative joint disease. However, 60 million people in united state are obese and the number increase every year.

I am sure that I am over weight. However, Am I obese? The word obesity is a little confusing. It is not just how much you weight. A 250 pounds man with 6% body fat is not obese where as a 180 pound man with 25% body fat. So how do I know if I am obese?

Here are a few factors that health professional used to determine if a person is obese.

BMI

BMI stand for body mass index. Your BMI can be calculated by dividing your weight in Kilogram by the square of you height.

If your BMI lay between 18.5 and 24.9, you are in normal weight. If it is below 18.5, you are underweight. A BMI that is higher than 30 indicate that a person is obese.

Even though BMI is widely use by health profession, it is not 100% accurate because race, age, muscularity and sex is not used in the equation. Also, if you are very muscular or lost body mass because you are older, BMI cannot be correctly calculated.

Waist Circumference

Abdominal fat is more dangerous than other fat in your body. They wrap around your organs and affect their function. If you are in apples shape (most fat store in your waist than other body part), you are in much higher risk to develop health problems related to obesity. You are obese if you are a

male with waist circumference larger than 102 cm (or 40 inches)

woman with waist circumference larger than 88 cm (or 35 inches)

Waist hip ratio can also be used to indicate obesity. Measure your waist circumference right above your belly button and the widest part of the hip bones. Then divide the waist measurement by the hip measurement. If waist hip ratio higher than 1.0 in men or 0.9 in women, he/she can be consider central obesity.

Body Fat

Body fat is a better indication of obesity than weight. A woman who has 32% body and a guy who has 25% body fat is obese. To measure your body fat, you will have to visit a clinic. A skin fold test or underwater weight test can tell the amount of fat in your body.

Are you confused? Still not sure if you are obese? Here is a tools I found on internet that can tell you if you are obese. This Obesity Calculator take your height, weight, gender, age and habit. It calculate and return the BMI according to your age group. I used it and found my BMI is 32.41. It is a little over 30 so I am obese!!!!

I am going to add this obesity tool to my blog soon so you can use it to calculate your BMI. However, it is just a estimation and you should consult your doctor for a more accurate test.