Check Yourself: If ‘overweight’ and ‘obese’ are vague concepts floating around in your brain, then it’s time to get real and slap some numbers down. Weight classifications aren’t subjectively defined. Knowing if you are obese or overweight is important when assessing your overall health and wellness. Too often we forget that obesity is a disease and carrying around excessive weight will send us to the grave prematurely and unpleasantly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 35% of Americans over the age of 20 are obese and another third are overweight. 18% of adolescents age 12-19 are obese. Between 60 and 70% of Americans are either overweight or obese.
Overweight is weighing at least 10 percent over the recommended weight for your height. Stop and think about what that means. If a healthy weight for you is 130lbs, then carrying around another 13 (10% of 130) labels you overweight at 143 lbs.
The CDC uses Body Mass Index (BMI) to assess weight relative to height and an individual with a BMI > 25 is considered overweight.
Obesity kicks in with a BMI > 30. Weighing 30% over the ideal weight for your height classifies you as obese. A healthy 130 lb. woman who slowly put on 40 pounds over the years is obese at 169 lbs. Is that lower or higher than you would expect?
Check yourself!
- Is your BMI >25 ? … >30? [click here for help calculating]
- Are you 10% heavier than your healthy weight? 30% heavier?
[divide current weight by healthy weight then subtract 1]
If you’re concerned about your body composition, it might be a good idea to understand your Waist to Hip Ratio, too.
