I recently did some research for an article that was requested by several readers to my website. The question was, Am I Overweight? This got me thinking about how we determine healthy weight and the tools we use such as the healthy weight chart.
In my article I explain the differences between the different methods of calculating the healthy weight range of an individual using the healthy weight chart.
The healthy weight chart sometimes referred to as the height weight chart can be very confusing to some people.
Let me explain. These two tools are used as a basis for the calculation of the well known BMI measurement system for measuring Body Mass Index.
There are some questions about the accuracy of this system. The height weight chart has been around for several decades and many of us have seen it pinned up on the medical practitioner's wall when we have visited the surgery.
The problem is that some people especially those who are taller than the average person, can be given a false sense of security when using the height weight chart as a measure of healthy weight.
The healthy weight of an individual can vary and the height weight chart is intended to be used as a guideline to determine if a man or woman is in the healthy weight range.
Healthy weight range like many other similar systems is designed by taking in information from many sources of population data and averaging it out to produce the system.
For most people the height weight chart gives quite an accurate indication of where you are within the band of the healthy weight range.
So is the height weight chart a reliable indicator of healthy weight?
In some cases the results for certain individuals when using these methods proved to be wrong.
We found that a taller than average man who was considered to be in the healthy weight range had developed some liver function problems.
Fatty liver disease is thought to be related to the amount of fat that is carried around the abdomen.
So if you are a tall person who tends to carry weight around the middle of your body you should ask your doctor for advice, and NOT rely on BMI as a measure of your healthy weight.
Conclusion: Many practitioners are now moving towards the use of body fat percentage as a safer and more reliable method of calculating health risks relating to being overweight.
In my article I explain the differences between the different methods of calculating the healthy weight range of an individual using the healthy weight chart.
The healthy weight chart sometimes referred to as the height weight chart can be very confusing to some people.
Let me explain. These two tools are used as a basis for the calculation of the well known BMI measurement system for measuring Body Mass Index.
There are some questions about the accuracy of this system. The height weight chart has been around for several decades and many of us have seen it pinned up on the medical practitioner's wall when we have visited the surgery.
The problem is that some people especially those who are taller than the average person, can be given a false sense of security when using the height weight chart as a measure of healthy weight.
The healthy weight of an individual can vary and the height weight chart is intended to be used as a guideline to determine if a man or woman is in the healthy weight range.
Healthy weight range like many other similar systems is designed by taking in information from many sources of population data and averaging it out to produce the system.
For most people the height weight chart gives quite an accurate indication of where you are within the band of the healthy weight range.
So is the height weight chart a reliable indicator of healthy weight?
In some cases the results for certain individuals when using these methods proved to be wrong.
We found that a taller than average man who was considered to be in the healthy weight range had developed some liver function problems.
Fatty liver disease is thought to be related to the amount of fat that is carried around the abdomen.
So if you are a tall person who tends to carry weight around the middle of your body you should ask your doctor for advice, and NOT rely on BMI as a measure of your healthy weight.
Conclusion: Many practitioners are now moving towards the use of body fat percentage as a safer and more reliable method of calculating health risks relating to being overweight.
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