Am I Overweight? | Scottsdale Weight Loss

I just finished reading an interesting study out of the U of Melbourne that said 40% of parents whose children are overweight or underweight report that they believe their children are in the normal range and that parents were more likely to report that their sons were underweight and that their girls were overweight.

We do not know if our kids are overweight, so, that brings up the question, do we know if we are overweight or obese? What do the terms overweight and obese really mean and am I either of these?

The most common way to determine if you are overweight is to figure out your BMI. (Click HERE for a calculator). BMI is an index used to determine weight categories. Standards show that if you have a BMI over 30, you are categorized as obese, over 25 and less than 30 is overweight and between 20 and 25 is normal weight. BMI is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared.

BMI is a way to determine your risk for weight related illnesses including: diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, degenerative arthritis and certain cancers related to weight (definitely not a complete list).

Better than BMI is body fat or body fat percent. The problem with measuring body fat is that it takes a special scale, calipers or a dunk tank for hydrostatic weighing. Not every person or every doctor’s office measures body fat or body fat percent because it can be so involved, therefore, BMI has become the standard.

More important than determining if you fit in the category of overweight or obesity is that if you are at least overweight, you consider doing something to decrease your weight. Ask yourself if you are comfortable at your current weight and if not, speak to your physician regarding your options for weight loss.

To find out if your child is overweight, the following web site does a great job: www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html