What is our ideal weight?

Posted on Medical and tagged Medical, Weight, Health, Muscle

The topic of ideal weight remains a hot topic as it is directly related to aspects of human health.

In addition to the increased risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, being overweight also increases the risk of developing several types of cancer.

To determine whether a person is at a healthy weight or not, the Body mass index (BMI) used. It is a calculation that divides people into one of four categories:

• underweight people with a score of less than 18.5;
• normal weight, with a rating between 18.5 and 24.9;
• overweight with a score of 25 to 25.9; and
• Obese, with a score of 30 or more.

Can we calculate our ideal weight?

However, based on height and weight alone, a person's bone, muscle, or fat ratios are not taken into account. For example, a person with exceptional muscle tone and low fat content (such as an athlete, bodybuilder, etc.) is more likely to have a higher BMI than someone with higher fat and lower muscle tone — this happens because the muscle is four times as dense as the adipose tissue.

The BMI also does not take into account the effects of age. As we age, the relationship between body fat and fat-free mass changes. The percentage of body fat increases, but the fat-free mass decreases. An evaluation based only on weight and height will be able to determine that these differences in proportions can be verified.

When using complementary measurement methods such as waist circumference, this can provide a more accurate and complete indication of the health risk. The waist circumference is a health indicator that, although not perfect, is still indicative of the early onset of some medical situations, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and hypercholesterolemia, which are associated with increased waist circumference. The ideal is to have a circumference of less than 94 cm for men and 80 cm for women. If the values are greater than 102 cm for men and 88 cm for women, the risk of early onset of cardiovascular disease is very high.

Just remember that the concept of “ideal weight” must be considered! At the beginning, the ideal weight should be one at which the person is healthy. The most important thing is going to be defining what your healthy weight is. Therefore, in addition to BMI and waist circumference, the following risk factors should also be considered when determining the ideal body weight:

• cigarette smoking
• Family history of premature heart disease
• genetics
• High blood sugar
• High LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and low HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol)
• High triglycerides
• hypertension
• Physical inactivity

Conclusion: A healthy weight is individually. It cannot be determined without taking the individual into account. It is not only influenced by diet and exercise and should be a result, not a goal!

Posted on Medical and tagged Medical, Weight, Health, Muscle.