Difference Between Obesity And Overweight

1 October, 2009 No Comment

One of the most important functions of your body is to convert food into energy. If this process is not done in a proper manner, you start getting a number of problems related with your health. Obesity is one such major issue suffered by people across the world. Well, you must know when do we call one suffering from obesity. In medical science, a person who has weight more than 20% of the ideal body mass index (BMI) falls under the category of obesity. This condition is also identified with excess amount of fat in human body.

To be precise, you have to find out your actual BMI, in order to find out whether you are suffering from obesity or on the verge of it. In this case, knowing your weight is not enough, because we ned to know about BMI. Under this, your height, age and other important factors are also considered. Hereon, we are discussing some of these factors, you should keep in mind.

Waist circumference: As a woman, If in case your waist is measuring more than 32 inches, you fall under the category of obese. This measurement goes to 36 inches for men, surpassing which they can be identified as obese.

Distribution of fat: This factor is often ignored. Generally, women accumulate fat around their buttocks and waist. This gives them a shape like pear. On the other hand, men usually start collecting fat on thier bellies. This is why, they look more like an apple. Fat around waist line is the cause of serious obesity related problems. This can also go up to an extent of infertility in women., while it increases the chances of heart related diseases.

Waist to hip ratio (WHR): This ratio takes the measurements of waist and hip into account. In this case, your waist circumference is divided by the circumference of your hips. A WHR of 1.0 or higher is considered as the sign of obesity. The more this ratio, the more the problems for the patient. Women should have a WHR of 0.80 or less than that. As far as men are concerned, the maximum limit shall be 0.90. Anything beyond this is a sign of obesity.