Lots of visitors to my website have commented on my article relating to the question: Am I Overweight? For this article I did some research relating to the current trends and opinions on measuring healthy weight using the healthy weight chart.
When using the healthy weight chart as a means to determine if we are overweight we need to remember that this is a very broad and simplistic method.
The healthy weight chart sometimes referred to as the height weight chart can be very confusing to some people.
These charts work on a very similar way to the more modern BMI scale of calculating your 'healthy weight' based on some mathematics to produce a height to weight ratio.
If you are not familiar with these charts you may well have seen one pinned to your doctor's wall in his surgery, but this method of calculating healthy body mass is not without its critics.
There is a particular problem with the modern diet that means that many of us now carry excessive and disproportionate amounts of fat around our waistline.
All the information from the height weight chart is for information purposes only and should be used together with other relevant factors to decide if you are within a healthy weight range.
The healthy weight range system is a collection of data from many thousands of people worldwide and is designed using an average of many different people's data.
For the vast majority of the population the height weight chart gives a realistic picture of where you are within the range of healthy weight.
So is the height weight chart a reliable indicator of healthy weight?
In some cases the results for certain individuals when using these methods proved to be wrong.
Our subject who was over 6 feet in height was given a false assessment when using the methods discussed above. His physician has said he is at risk of fatty liver disease because of his accumulation of abdominal fat.
Fatty liver disease is thought to be related to the amount of fat that is carried around the abdomen.
Men with an abdominal circumference of above 40 inches who are over 6 feet tall could be mislead as they may be considered in the overweight but not at risk category according to their BMI using the healthy weight chart.
Conclusion: Instead of relying on a generalised BMI healthy weight system you should pay attention to fat distribution in the abdominal region and also overall body fat percentage as a more accurate and personalised approach to determining healthy weight.
When using the healthy weight chart as a means to determine if we are overweight we need to remember that this is a very broad and simplistic method.
The healthy weight chart sometimes referred to as the height weight chart can be very confusing to some people.
These charts work on a very similar way to the more modern BMI scale of calculating your 'healthy weight' based on some mathematics to produce a height to weight ratio.
If you are not familiar with these charts you may well have seen one pinned to your doctor's wall in his surgery, but this method of calculating healthy body mass is not without its critics.
There is a particular problem with the modern diet that means that many of us now carry excessive and disproportionate amounts of fat around our waistline.
All the information from the height weight chart is for information purposes only and should be used together with other relevant factors to decide if you are within a healthy weight range.
The healthy weight range system is a collection of data from many thousands of people worldwide and is designed using an average of many different people's data.
For the vast majority of the population the height weight chart gives a realistic picture of where you are within the range of healthy weight.
So is the height weight chart a reliable indicator of healthy weight?
In some cases the results for certain individuals when using these methods proved to be wrong.
Our subject who was over 6 feet in height was given a false assessment when using the methods discussed above. His physician has said he is at risk of fatty liver disease because of his accumulation of abdominal fat.
Fatty liver disease is thought to be related to the amount of fat that is carried around the abdomen.
Men with an abdominal circumference of above 40 inches who are over 6 feet tall could be mislead as they may be considered in the overweight but not at risk category according to their BMI using the healthy weight chart.
Conclusion: Instead of relying on a generalised BMI healthy weight system you should pay attention to fat distribution in the abdominal region and also overall body fat percentage as a more accurate and personalised approach to determining healthy weight.
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