Lots of visitors to my website have commented on my article relating to the question: Am I Overweight? For this article I did some research relating to the current trends and opinions on measuring healthy weight using the healthy weight chart.
The healthy weight chart is a fairly crude formula that takes into account many general factors relating to the overall body shape of a person.
There are several names for the healthy weight chart, some refer to it as the height weight chart but is essentially the same thing.
To clarify, these charts can be used to produce a rough idea of where we are in a healthy weight range, what band we fall into based on a height and weight formula.
If you are not familiar with these charts you may well have seen one pinned to your doctor's wall in his surgery, but this method of calculating healthy body mass is not without its critics.
The fact is that due to many changes in lifestyle and the modern diet this age old method may well be due for retirement. In some cases it has produced some very misleading results.
All the information from the height weight chart is for information purposes only and should be used together with other relevant factors to decide if you are within a healthy weight range.
The healthy weight range system was established by collecting data from the population as a whole.
Because the height weight chart is predicated on data from so many people it is usually fairly accurate and gives you an idea of where you fit in a wide band range of healthy weight.
The real question though is, if the height weight chart can be relied upon?
Caution, there are cases where the results have been incorrect for example:
Our subject who was over 6 feet in height was given a false assessment when using the methods discussed above. His physician has said he is at risk of fatty liver disease because of his accumulation of abdominal fat.
If you are tall but carry excessive weight around your abdominal region you should seek medical advice as you may be at increased risk of disease.
Men with an abdominal circumference of above 40 inches who are over 6 feet tall could be mislead as they may be considered in the overweight but not at risk category according to their BMI using the healthy weight chart.
Conclusion: Instead of relying on a generalised BMI healthy weight system you should pay attention to fat distribution in the abdominal region and also overall body fat percentage as a more accurate and personalised approach to determining healthy weight.
The healthy weight chart is a fairly crude formula that takes into account many general factors relating to the overall body shape of a person.
There are several names for the healthy weight chart, some refer to it as the height weight chart but is essentially the same thing.
To clarify, these charts can be used to produce a rough idea of where we are in a healthy weight range, what band we fall into based on a height and weight formula.
If you are not familiar with these charts you may well have seen one pinned to your doctor's wall in his surgery, but this method of calculating healthy body mass is not without its critics.
The fact is that due to many changes in lifestyle and the modern diet this age old method may well be due for retirement. In some cases it has produced some very misleading results.
All the information from the height weight chart is for information purposes only and should be used together with other relevant factors to decide if you are within a healthy weight range.
The healthy weight range system was established by collecting data from the population as a whole.
Because the height weight chart is predicated on data from so many people it is usually fairly accurate and gives you an idea of where you fit in a wide band range of healthy weight.
The real question though is, if the height weight chart can be relied upon?
Caution, there are cases where the results have been incorrect for example:
Our subject who was over 6 feet in height was given a false assessment when using the methods discussed above. His physician has said he is at risk of fatty liver disease because of his accumulation of abdominal fat.
If you are tall but carry excessive weight around your abdominal region you should seek medical advice as you may be at increased risk of disease.
Men with an abdominal circumference of above 40 inches who are over 6 feet tall could be mislead as they may be considered in the overweight but not at risk category according to their BMI using the healthy weight chart.
Conclusion: Instead of relying on a generalised BMI healthy weight system you should pay attention to fat distribution in the abdominal region and also overall body fat percentage as a more accurate and personalised approach to determining healthy weight.
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If you would like to learn more about the height weight chart see this article, height weight chart
