Health Guide

How to Measure Obesity

Written by Mystic on Monday, January 28, 2008

Measurements

Several criteria have been suggested to measure obesity but a few simplified objective methods for its assessment are now widely acceptable worldwide A person is obese when a he or she is 20% above the recommended weight for his or her height and build. Another direct method for estimation of body fats include Densitometery which simply entails weighing under water and uses the basic principle that fat and other body tissues have different density, and hence the actual fat content can be calculated. Convenient methods used in clinics are as follows:

Skin fold thickness
Ordinary calipers can be used to measure skin fold thickness over the biceps, triceps or below the shoulder and standard charts are used to assess the degree of obesity.

Body mass index (BMI)
This is a quick, easy and reliable method. It uses the ratio of weight in kgs divided by the square of height in meters, i.e., W/H2 for example for someone weighing 70 kgs. and a height of 175 cms. Body Mass Index (BMI) will be 70/(1.75)2 = 23. BMI of 25 is taken as upper limit of normal, and a span of 25-29.9 as overweight. Values above 30 is obese. In terms of disease and mortality, scientists have categorized BMI under four categories.

BMI Relative Index
25-30	LOW
30-35	MODERATE
35-40	HIGH
40	VERY HIGH

Waist/hip-ratios
Ratio of the waist measured at the narrowest part between the rib cage and hips divided by measurement of hips at the widest part determines a simple but useful ratio. Scientists have enough evidence that a ratio higher than 1.0 for men and 0.9 for women are associated with high risks of getting diabetes and cardiovascular morbidity.

Standard tables
Standard tables of height and weight in correlation to the risk of mortality at different ages are convenient. These are derived from various sources such as life insurance data and nationwide disease prevalence. However they have several limitations as they take into account only a cross sections of the population.

The Most useful Criteria
For a quick assessment of obesity and related risk, the BMI and waist/hip ratio are the best since enough data is now available nationwide and worldwide.

Obesity In America - Measuring Obesity

Obese Child

Written by Mystic on Monday, January 28, 2008

When obesity strikes early!

Are your wrong eating habits making your child obese? Or is he chubby due to some other reason. Read on to know the factors making your child overweight.

Factors leading to childhood obesity
Obesity in children is when you suspect the weight is 20 per cent more than the ideal body weight. It is more of a social problem than a medical problem. Our society calls such children “cute”, “chubby” and “sweet little ones”; hence a fat child is more accepted. Causes of childhood include the following:

• Genetic factors-80 per cent of children are obese if both parents are fat.
• Social factors-Wrong eating habits of the adults and their lifestyle.
• Media influence-Advertisements luring the children for chocolates, 2-minute noodles, snack foods.
• Family tensions-A lonely and defected child finds solace in overeating.
• Medical problems-like diabetes, thyroid problem and certain drugs like steroids.
• Insufficient exercise-spending more time in front of the T.V.

Prevention of obesity in children
Nutrition and diet - A diet of complex carbohydrates such as potatoes and pasta, as well as chicken, fish and plenty of vegetables. The main meal of the child should be in the middle of the day when he can burn off more calories. Thus calorie restriction is avoided.
Replace daily consumption of soft drinks with 4-5 glasses of water/juice/milk (toned). Thus fats and sugars should also be substituted for proteins, minerals and vitamins and a high fibre diet. “Pay attention to quality and not to quantity”.

• Avoid sedentary activities such as watching television and get the child into a regular exercise programme or routine.
• Avoid using food as reward to the children.
• Reduce family tension.
• Change of attitudes.

Child | Obesity and Overweight

What does success of fat loss depend on?

Written by Mystic on Thursday, January 24, 2008

Success of fat loss

• Finding the right reasons and commitment.
• Setting realistic goals, rather than blaming your genes.
• Cut the fat, as fat has twice as many calories as carbohydrates.
• Remember if fat free or low fat foods are over consumed, even then you can gain weight.
• Say no to junk food eg. burgers and pizzas which may have 50 per cent to 60 per cent carbohydrates and about 20 percent fat.
• Simple sugars should be avoided like pastries, candies and fruit juices.
• Eat frequent meals at short intervals.
• Increase protein intake.
• Eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner.
• Don't deprive yourself, eat less and stop, eat slowly and savour it.
• Use vitamin supplements
• Enjoy 30 minutes of activity, daily.
• Deal with stress.
• Get your rest and recuperation.
• Maintain a dairy for a daily track record of diet control and exercise etc.
• Get organised and boost your willpower.
• Plan to maintain the weight loss by reading obesity management journals and checking your frustrations.

Fat Loss Tips

Written by Mystic on Thursday, January 24, 2008

Tired of your chubbiness. Don't fret. Browse though our section of handy tips and attain that hour-glass like figure.

Lowering cholesterol
A rule of thumb for lowering cholesterol is to limit meats and dairy products. Food must be animal derived to have naturally occurring cholesterol. In other words, if it doesn't have a mother, it can't have cholesterol. Therefore, the potato chip can't have cholesterol; but it does have saturated fats, which increases the cholesterol in your bloodstream. These foods include whole milk, nuts, tropical oils and potato chips. In processed food there is a new kind of fat called trans fat. This fat occurs in foods that contain partially hydrogenated oil such as margarine.

Exercise and eating habits
Exercise is the key to keeping the fat you eat from forming love-handles at your waist. It has also been shown to be effective in keeping your arteries clean and healthy.

Although new studies are showing those short-duration exercises are beneficial, aerobic workouts lasting 20 minutes or longer are still best for fat burning. Well-conditioned athletes will need to workout longer, 35 minutes or more, to reap the fat-burning benefits.

Your eating habits also affect your fat storage. It is important to eat small, frequent meals. Going for long periods of time without food can cause your metabolism to slow down, and your ability to store fat increases. When you skip meals, your body has a tendency to store the next meal's calories as fat. Regular, small meals are used far more efficiently.
So to fight the war on fat you need to:

• limit the saturated fat, cholesterol and trans fat you consume;
• keep total fat calories at less than 20 per cent;
• keep total calories consumed in line with caloric expenditure;
• eat small, frequent meals;
• exercise regularly and include some type of aerobic activity.