Evidence is emerging to suggest that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing worldwide at an alarming rate. Obesity is now twice as common in adults as it was 25 years ago. Being overweight (having excess body fat) is a risk factor for many chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, gallstones and some cancers.
How obesity is defined
The most common method for measuring obesity is the Body Mass Index (BMI). It is used for adult men and women but not for children, pregnant women or athletes who have different requirements for weight. The Body Mass Index compares your weight in relation to your height and the result indicates the percentage of body fat you may have.
The calculation is easy; divide body weight by height squared. If you use Standard or Imperial measurements the calculation is slightly different to the Metric. Here is an example of each:
Metric: (kilograms) divided by Height (metres) squared = BMI
Standard or Imperial: Weight (pounds) divided by Height (inches) squared, x 703= BMI
The BMI is one way of working out whether or not you are overweight or obese. However it does have its limitiations. It does not consider muscle mass which will vary between people. An athlete will have more muscle than fat tissue. In comparison, an elderly person is likely to have less muscle and more fat. find out more about The Herbal SLIM Kit here
