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So, do you need to lose weight?

How do we bring sense into this area of vital statistics? The body of evidence appears to suggest that we had best retain the middle ground: more and more healthcare professionals are today veering around to the view that, while being slightly above your ideal weight might not harm you and could, in fact, constitute "insurance" for your old age, excessive overweight is a different matter altogether. It's what is known today as "clinical obesity" and there is no question that this sombre diagnosis puts you at decidedly higher risk for serious chronic disorders such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. Obese people are upto six times more likely to develop diabetes, and three times more likely to develop high blood pressure. They are also at greater risk during, a pregnancy or surgery. And, a long-term study at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the U.S. found that young men in their twenties who were 20 lb or more overweight, nearly doubled their chances of developing osteoarthritis of the knee and hip.

This critical difference between not being ultra-slim, and being grossly and unhealthily overweight, makes it important for you to define your problem before you can fine-tune the solution to it.

Don't step on your scale to determine the answer to the question, 'Am I obese, or am I just pleasantly plump?' Your scale can tell you how much you weigh but not how fat you are. That is because: (i) You need to consider your weight in relation to your height to decide whether you are 'overweight', and (ii) the number on a scale reflects the weight of your muscle, bone and fat — but, of these three, only an excess of fat makes you obese.

Medical science today has more accurate ways of determining obesity (defined as being over 20 per cent above your ideal weight.) Nutritionist Niti Desai cites two methods currently in use among health professionals:

(i) The Body Mass Index (or BMI) is an index that relates weight to height. Use this formula to determine your own BMI:

Your weight (in kg)

Your height (in metres), squared

If your score is

Less than 20, you're underweight (which can be a signal of malnutrition, a symptom — rather than a cause — of serious disease).

Between 20 and 25, you're within the limits of your healthy-weight range.

Between 25 and 30, you're about 8 to 10 per cent above your healthy weight.

Above 30, you're obese — that means you're more than 20 per cent above your healthy weight, and at decided risk for the health hazards fisted above. (An important exception: Those with very athletic or muscular physiques will generally have a high BMI without this constituting a source of worry. This is because their extra weight comes from lean muscle rather than from fat. And that is why doctors like to consider the BMI score in conjunction with another measure, your waist-to-hip ratio, below.

(ii) Your Waist-to-Hip Ratio is another way of determining whether you're dangerously overweight. That's because fat which deposits itself around the waist (the so-called "applet-shape body) is worse than that which collects in excess around the hips and thighs (in the "pear"-shape body); "apples" are at higher risk for heart disease and diabetes than "pears".

Measure your waist at its narrowest point and your trips (over your buttocks) at their widest point. Then use this formula for determining waist-to-hip ratio:

Waist Circumference in cm. Hip Circumference in cm.

A waist-to-hip ratio higher than 0.85 in women and 0.90 in men is bad news for your heart. It also puts you at higher risk for stroke, diabetes, hypertension and certain cancers. The reason is thought to be mat abdominal fat surrounds vital internal organs.

A ratio that's closer to 0.80, or less than that, is ideal.

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