You can be active and healthy at any size – https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/staying-active-at-any-size. You can also find lists of resources and organizations that espouse a Healthy at Every Size philosophy here
https://haescommunity.com/find/ .
The medical community defines obesity as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater, while overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 to 29.9. Larger bodies have become more common in the United States in the last few decades. In population studies, obesity is a risk factor for heart disease, some types of cancer, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and several other health conditions. Overweight when present with other factors like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, family history, or cigarette smoking, is also considered to be a risk. It’s important to note limitations of BMI when it comes to individual risk assessment – this is a measurement created for population studies and people should use caution when interpreting this measurement.
Learn more about obesity by watching Part 1 of the documentary Weight of the Nation. All parts are available for free on Youtube.
BMI is one of measures of body composition, previously defined here. Body composition is defined as the relative proportion of fat mass to lean mass in the body. It is usually measured by percent body fat, but that can be hard to do day to day. So one approximate measure is BMI, which is a ratio of mass to height. This number does not truly give someone an indication of their fat percent and some groups of people tend to have under- or over-estimates of their body composition when using BMI (athletic people, older adults, people who are below a certain height and so on). You can calculate your BMI here – https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm. Another measure is waist circumference, because abdominal fat puts you at higher risk for health complications.
There are more accurate measures of body composition. Calipers can be used by fitness professionals to do a skin-fold measurement to determine body fat percentage with more precision. There are also scales and handheld tools that use bioelectrical impedence to estimate a percent body fat. Less accessible are things like full body tools like air pods, hydrostatic weighing (under water), or special X-rays.
Body fat consists of essential fat (what we need to function), and storage fat. There is a range of normal body fat – https://us.humankinetics.com/blogs/excerpt/normal-ranges-of-body-weight-and-body-fat.
In order to improve your body composition, consider these tips.
Improve your diet, but do it as a change to your habits. Usually when people think of diets, they think of short-term programs meant to lose pounds fast. However, while this can help people lose weight, most will not maintain that weight loss. Read the post titled How can you eat healthier? Take a look at some myths about weight management – https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/myths-nutrition-physical-activity.
Practice portion control. Portion sizes have increased in the last several decades. Looks at this Portion Distortion Quiz to see how much. Read about portion control here – https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/just-enough-food-portions.
Become more active in your life. You can start slowly, by walking more places or getting off the bus or subway one stop early. Increase activity levels, including strength training and flexibility, until you meet the recommended activity levels.
