Obesity Help: Shifting The Dialogue From Blame To Solution

According to th Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), being overweight or obese is having a weight that is higher than what is considered as a healthy weight for a given height.

Over the years, people who are overweight or obese have been discriminated. This is owing to the fact that the surface understanding people have about the cause of being overweight or obesity is wrong feeding habits.

There are no doubts that a wrong feeding habit contribute to many overweight and obese cases but this shouldn’t be a foundational focus. Rather, finding a solution and skipping the blame game is a sure step to reduce the epidemic.

Overweight and obesity are both determined by Body Mass Index (BMI). This is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. If that sounds a bit complex to you, the chart below will give you better understanding;

Height (m)	Healthy (kg)	Overweight (kg)	Obese (kg)
1.47	53	54-64	65
1.50	56	57-67	68
1.52	57	58-69	70
1.55	59	60-71	72
1.57	61	62-73	74
1.60	63	64-76	77
1.63	66	67-79	80
1.65	67	68-81	83
1.68	70	71-84	85
1.70	72	73-86	87
1.73	74	75-89	90
1.75	76	77-91	92
1.78	79	80-94	95
1.80	80	81-97	98
1.83	83	84-100	101
1.85	85	86-102	103
1.88	89	90-106	107
1.90	90	91-108	109

The above chart is called the Body Mass Index Chart.

From the ninth row in the chart, if you are 1.68 meters (m) tall and weigh above 70kilograms (kg), you are either overweight (71-84kg) or obese (85kg). That is how the Body Mass Index (BMI) chart is interpreted.

A Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher is considered obese, while a BMI of 25-29.9 is considered overweight. From the example I used, if you are 1.68meters tall and weigh 70kg;

BMI = 70 divided by (1.68)²

. ^. . BMI = 70 divided by 2.8224

BMI = 24.80 (This is below 25, meaning healthy)

If however, you are 1.68 meters tall and weigh 71kg, after calculating BMI, you result will be 25.15 (meaning overweight). This is a simple explanation of how Body Mass Index is calculated and how you can determine if you are healthy, overweight or obese.

There are significant health dangers associated with overweight and obesity. The more known effects include, increased risk of developing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure (hypertension) among others. However, the psychological and social effects of obesity and overweight are often sidelined.

People with a weight problem are always anxious. They are often looked down upon and this causes them to have a low self-esteem. As much as it is depressing to be obese or overweight, depression makes it harder to lose weight.

Being overweight or obese does not mean you don’t have any chance of having a good life. It is possible to live an active and healthy life despite your condition. However, you have to work at it much harder and with greater dedication than individuals of healthy weight.

Obesity and overweight can be handled and treated by;