Health and body weight

It is wise to control one's body weight as being overweight or obese may bring health problems. People who are overweight are more prone to Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure), certain type of cancer such as bowel cancer, etc.

Being overweight or obese can also cause psychological problems such as low self esteem. Teasing about their appearance may affects an overweight person’s confidence and self-esteem and can lead to isolation and depression.

Obesity and being overweight are not exactly the same thing. An obese person has a large amount of extra body fat, not just a few extra pounds. People who are obese are very overweight and at risk for serious health problems.

A measurement called body mass index (BMI) is used as a guide. BMI is the ratio between your weight and the square of your height, using metric measurements. That is,

BMI = weight in kg/(height in metre X height in metre)

You can use the embedded table below to calculate your BMI. Just enter the weight (kg) and height (m) in the appropriate cell and the BMI will be displayed in the third cell:



If you are more used to Imperial units, use the table below:



Use this table below to estimate how you are faring:

Less than 15	Starvation
Less than 17.5	Anorexic
Less than 18.5	Underweight
18.5 to 25	Ideal
25 to 30	Overweight
30 to 40	Obese
over 40	Morbidly Obese

Source: Wikipedia: Body Mass Index

If you fall into the less desirable range, here are Ten Easy Ways to Lose Weight

Loosing weight is not easy without a guide as to how to go about it, and Ten Easy Ways to Lose Weight gives you some handy tips on how to lose weight naturally.

A seemingly logical way of loosing weight would be to subtract (that is, eat less), but Ten Easy Ways to Lose Weight gave a tip to add (eat more) instead. Surf over to that site to find out how this seemingly contradictory tip can help you lose weight.