Many of you may have used calculators to find out your BMI but this widely-believed standard of measuring health is outdated and even incorrect.
To find your Body Mass Index, you calculate your bodyweight in kilograms by your height in metres squared. A BMI between18-25 is considered optimal, anything hire than 25 is seen as overweight, and a number above 30 is obese.
Unfortunately, the calculation is overly simple and doesn’t take into account whether your body weight comes from fat or muscle. Obviously someone with a BMI of 24 and a high body fat percentage is a lot less healthy than someone with an equal BMI and a low body fat percentage. (Don’t forget that muscle weighs more than fat).
Health experts are instead turning to waist circumference measurements and hip-to-waist ratios to determine people’s health. The argument is that body fat that is centred near your mid-section is more likely to be associated to health risks than fat that is stored elsewhere in the body. A larger waistline is associated with increased risk of high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. It also increases mortally rates.
You can determine your waist circumference by measuring around your bare stomach, just above your hip bone. Make sure you exhale before recording your measurement.
Men with a waist circumference greater than 102 centimetres (40 inches) and women with a measurement higher than 88 centimetres (35 inches) are believed to be at risk for heart disease and associated illnesses.
There you have it, a simple test that can determine your health risks with no calculator required.
To find your Body Mass Index, you calculate your bodyweight in kilograms by your height in metres squared. A BMI between18-25 is considered optimal, anything hire than 25 is seen as overweight, and a number above 30 is obese.
Unfortunately, the calculation is overly simple and doesn’t take into account whether your body weight comes from fat or muscle. Obviously someone with a BMI of 24 and a high body fat percentage is a lot less healthy than someone with an equal BMI and a low body fat percentage. (Don’t forget that muscle weighs more than fat).
Health experts are instead turning to waist circumference measurements and hip-to-waist ratios to determine people’s health. The argument is that body fat that is centred near your mid-section is more likely to be associated to health risks than fat that is stored elsewhere in the body. A larger waistline is associated with increased risk of high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. It also increases mortally rates.
You can determine your waist circumference by measuring around your bare stomach, just above your hip bone. Make sure you exhale before recording your measurement.
Men with a waist circumference greater than 102 centimetres (40 inches) and women with a measurement higher than 88 centimetres (35 inches) are believed to be at risk for heart disease and associated illnesses.
There you have it, a simple test that can determine your health risks with no calculator required.
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