Calculating your health
Here are a few of the most popular ways to assess your general health.
When you start a diet it's a good idea to know a few details about your general weight and health. Knowing these help you identify weight loss success and provide you with short term targets to aim for.
Understanding the health risks associated with being overweight also provide great motivation for starting and continuing with a healthy lifestyle.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
BMI is generally used to find out if you are a healthy weight for your height.
| Underweight | BMI Less then 18.4 |
| Ideal weight | BMI 18.5 to 24.9 |
| Overweight | BMI 25 to 29.9 |
| Obese | BMI 30 to 39.9 |
| Very obese | BMI over 40 |
Waist Hip Ratio
The waist-hip ratio is different to the BMI as it's found by measuring the proportion of fat stored on your body around your waist and hips and is generally thought to be a better way of predicting whether a person is at risk of a heart attack.
To calculate your waist to hip ratio you'll need to measure your waist at its narrowest point and your hips at their widest point. When taking your measurements make sure you aren't doing this over clothes or that you are pulling the tape tightly round your waist and hips.
Next divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. This will give you your waist to hip ratio.
You are at greater risk of health problems if:
- You are male and your ratio is greater than 1.0
- You are female and your ratio is more than 0.8
A high ratio also indicates that you have an apple body shape which tends to suffer from greater risk of developing health problems.
Apple or Pear?
Our body stores fat in ways that create two distinct body shapes.
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Apple body shape - fat is stored around the middle of the body (the waist and stomach)
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Pear body shape - fat is stored around hips and thighs
People with an apple shaped body store fat around the abdomen and chest which then builds up around surrounding internal organs such as the kidneys, liver and the heart. Whereas fat stored on the hips and thighs, as with a pear shaped body, is much less likely to have the same affect on these organs.
Because of this, if you are an apple shape you are at much greater risk of developing illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes than people who are a pear shape.
The good news for people with apple shapes is that though you're unable to change your fundamental body shape, you will find it easier to shed excess pounds through diet and exercise. This will also have an impact on your overall shape.
Obesity
If your BMI is 25 or over, and/or you have a high waist-hip ratio and/or you are an apple shape you should seriously consider taking steps towards a more healthy lifestyle.
The health risks of being obese(link)
Tackling obesity(link)
