WHAT IS BMI?
Your goal is to be at a healthful weight. The first step to reaching this goal is to determine your current weight status: Are you underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese?A good measure for this is the Body Mass Index (BMI), a standardized method used by many health professionals to evaluate weight and body fat percentage. BMI is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. It gives you an indication of whether you are at risk of health problems that are related to being overweight or obese. If your BMI is 25 or higher, you are at risk for a number of serious health problems, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, pregnancy-related disorders, and osteoarthritis. Those with a BMI greater than 30 are warned by the American Heart Association that they are at major risk factor for coronary heart disease.
Weight Watchers has a free BMI Calculator. It gives you a close approximation of your BMI .click here for link
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HOW DO I REDUCE MY BMI? Reducing your body mass index results in burning more calories, or energy, than you consume. One way this can be accomplished is by reducing total caloric intake. A reduction of just 500 calories per day can result in a loss of 1 lb. per week. For some people, eliminating high caloric foods from their diet such as sodas and blended coffee drinks per day can result in significant weight loss over time. Another way to reduce your body mass index is to increase your exercise and physical activity. Regular exercise is a structured, planned activity involving the major muscle groups. Physical activity includes daily activities such as housework, moving rather than sitting, taking the stairs versus the elevator and parking farther away in parking lots. or taking the stairs. Doing more of this each day can double your energy output for the day. Strength training helps reduce body fat. Because muscle tissue is very active, it burns more fat. It also strengthens bones. |
IS BMI ACCURATE? Generally speaking, yes it is accurate. However, two people with the same BMI don’t necessarily have the same percentage of body fat. Women are more likely to have a higher percentage of body fat than men with the same BMI, and older adults may have more than younger ones. And because weight is only one factor among many related to disease—others include diet, physical activity, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels and family history of disease—BMI is not an absolute indicator of anything.
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