Become a Member
Life

Healthy weight: chasing the ideal figure

Is our health at risk if we are not within the "normal" BMI?

July 4, 2017 10:31
GettyImages-505722820

ByLaura Southern, laura southern

4 min read

Weight has become an obsession. One of the first questions asked after a baby is born is “how much did he/she weigh?”, and “you look like you’ve lost weight” is almost invariably meant as a compliment. It is not just the Jewish community who have this fixation. According to research carried out in 2016 by Mintel, two thirds of UK adults are on a weight-loss diet “most of the time”. In my busy north London nutrition practice, 70 per cent of clients seek my help for weight loss.

Nearly 62 per cent of England’s population are overweight or obese, making the UK the “fat man” of Europe according to the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. But does it matter? We love to celebrate with food and it is a huge part of our culture. Is it OK to have a bit of a wobbly tummy, or should we all be trying to slim down?

Weight is determined using the body mass index (BMI), calculated simply by dividing a person’s weight in kg by the square of their height in metres. The resulting number corresponds to a category — underweight (less than 18), normal weight (19 to 24), overweight (25 to 29) and obese (30 plus).

The BMI has been used by medical professionals for more than 100 years but regularly comes into criticism for being too crude. For example, muscle mass is not considered. This means a very fit, muscley athlete might have a BMI in the obese category, while a short person might have a healthy BMI despite carrying too much weight around their middle (the dangerous area). A more revealing determinant of health risk is waist-to-height ratio. For this, divide the waist circumference by the height (ensure both units are the same). A result of 0.4 to 0.5 is considered “safe”. Lower is underweight and a result of 0.5 or more signifies increased risk of heart disease, stroke and death.