|
Home / Fitness / Weight Loss
Body Mass Index The Importance Of Knowing Your Number
By:Jason Cox
Weight loss is, more than anything else in our society, a huge numbers game. You have to lose this many pounds in this many weeks. Your waist has to be this many inches. Your percentage of body fat should only be this much. When you take into consideration all the numbers, facts and figures you are supposed to keep up with, it is no wonder that you have so many problems losing weight.
However, body mass index is one very good way to know where you are and where you need to go with your diet. With all of these concerns about numbers, though, there is one that doctors seem to think matters more than any other your body mass index.
Body mass index is a relatively new term on the American diet scene. It has, though, been around for sometime. Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet who lived from 1796 to 1854 created the idea of the body mass index. This Belgian mathematician was famous both in his time and ours for implementing systems of numbers, which could actually help our lives. It was originally called the Quetelet Index. Doctors and researchers now suggest that this is the best way to calculate obesity and overweight numbers in the most accurate fashion.
The B M I, though, is a bit confusing to most people, because for many, it seems like one more number that they must pay attention to. Essentially, a persons Body mass index is a ratio. It takes into account both the height and the weight of an individual. This tells doctors and researchers how much fat the person's body carries inside.
Calculating your B M I is relatively easy process. Simply divide your body weight in kilograms with your height in meters squared. While this calculation in and of itself may be quite difficult, you can obtain its chart from your doctor or on the internet at many different weight loss sites. It is really a much more useful statistic than most of those involved in the process of weight loss. It can tell you about your risk factors in terms of your current health, thereby helping you to decide the degree of healthy you might face in your future years.
In order to be considered healthy by the scientific community, your B M I must fall between 18.5 and 25. Should your BMI fall higher than 25, your will fall into the category of overweight. If you have more than 30, you will be considered obese. If your Body Mass Index is more than 40, you fall into the extremely obese category, putting you at much higher health risks than most.
A high body mass index at various times during your life means different things for men and women. Johns Hopkins conducted some fairly extensive research into the consequences of higher BMI results at different times during ones life. For a man, a high B M I during the ages of twenty to twenty nine often lead to arthritis in the knees as age progresses. For women, a higher BMI has been linked to more serious complications like breast cancer in later life. Increasingly, your BMI is one of the most important numbers your doctor will calculate during your yearly checkup.
He or she will suggest the how much you should weigh for your height and discuss some of the possible consequences of your actions should you choose to ignore your BMI. It is not just for adults either. More and more pediatricians are looking at this to determine whether children are overweight for their ages, helping them to diagnose possible health problems before they begin.
The Body Mass Index can vary from country to country. Moreover, there are a few problems with it, as it can not account for muscle mass. Someone with a large amount of muscle mass, like a body builder, will be overweight. For most, though, the BMI is an excellent measurement of where you should be in your weight loss practices.
Digg
del.icio.us
Blink
Stumble
Spurl
Reddit
Netscape
Furl
Article keywords: Body Mass Index, Weight loss, a huge numbers game, Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, divide your body we
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com
For several years now, Jason has been reviewing hundreds of online products and services. Many consider his reviews to be very insightful and reliable. Visit his website dietandweightlossinfo.com
|
|
| Top Weight Loss Articles |
|
|
- 2). How To Drop Weight and Become Healthier Using These 7 Simple Everyday Life Tips? By : Monty Lee
These days more and more people are getting intellectual instead of physical jobs. Sitting in the office chairs all-day long has become a norm for many of us. Stress, busyness and rush make us forget about regular food and stuff our stomachs with cheeseburgers and sodas, which don’t do anything good for our bodies.
As a result of such crazy life rhythm, we rarely find time for exercises, gyms or balanced nutrition.
|
- 3). Is there Any Hoodia in that Hoodia Weight Loss Product? By : Richard Keir
Copyright 2006 Richard Keir
Gotten any email spam lately with a 'warning' about buying fake Hoodia products or Hoodia products with a variety of fillers?
Of course, they assure you that THEIR product is 'the original product.' It may be the original product, whatever that might mean, but the chances of it containing Hoodia are pretty close to zero.
|
- 4). The Difference Between Liquid Hoodia And Hoodia Pills By : Rand Hanes
For those interested in taking hoodia, they will be presented with a choice between pill and liquid forms. As with any natural supplements taken, there are certain distinctive differences between liquid and pill forms of consumption. Similarly to taking multivitamin supplements, hoodia in liquid form is more expensive but has been shown to assimilate into the body system faster and have a greater amount of the substance used by the body than when it is taken in pill form.
|
|
|
- 6). 8 Ways To Create Balance To Achieve Lasting Weight Loss By : Meri Raffetto
Need to lose weight? Dreading the thought of another diet program? You don’t have to follow diets to lose weight. There are many people discovering this for themselves and they are the ones who are finding long term weight loss apposed to short term fixes. The key to weight loss is finding the right balance of what you eat, what you think, and what activity you do.
|
|
|
- 8). Weight Loss Myths Exposed By : Kim Beardsmore
It probably won’t come as a surprise to hear there is a great deal of confusion around nutrition. In fact, many people reading this article will have only a scant idea about the different food types and what our body actually needs to keep healthy.
One of the simplest systems I’ve encountered is this. If the food tastes good, then it has to be ‘bad’ for you! And then there’s its counterpart, “If the food tastes ‘bad’ then it must be ‘good’ for you”.
|
- 9). Your Anchors & How They Keep You From Your Weight Loss Goals By : Kelly Burris
Anchors are the reasons that attach you to any behavior. Your anchors originated from extremely strong repetitive memory associations, which are triggered by your five senses of hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch. You are constantly being anchored in different ways through out your life. For example, when you hear a certain song and it brings back a memory of a certain person, or a place in time, this is an audio anchor or an anchor triggered by your sense of hearing.
|
- 10). Overweight and Dying - Mummy Stay With Me A Little Longer By : kacycarr
Scientists have now discovered that skeletal frame humans are more vulnerable to bouts of anxiety than that of oversized happy porkers that at the time of study were found to be less prone to depression in their recent research.
Then in the same article a snippet revealed how a 16 year study stated that slim people are more confident and content, surely this is a great factor for happiness denoting a safe healthy life.
|
| New Weight Loss Articles |
|
|
- 2). Fat Consequences In Children By : Mark Kimathi
As the world battles with an epidemic that is proving difficult to manage and showing signs of becoming a costly affair, our children are getting caught in the cross fire. Adult onset diabetes, weight loss surgery and weight loss medication for children is not exactly what parent had in mind when planning for their posterity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- 7). Why Herbal Weight Loss Is A Highly Effective And Natural Diet By : Clive Jenkins
Before ingesting any herbs as part of a herbal weight loss programme it is important to check they are recognized medically as been safe for human consumption. There are some substances which should not be consumed, as they contain highly toxic properties which are potentially very dangerous for our vital organs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
