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What's Your Healthy Weight?
In today's society,
the media hound celebrities whether they lose a pound or gain one, so
it's hard to grasp the concept of a healthy weight.
"There's much
confusion over what constitutes a healthy weight and what constitutes
being overweight," says Mike Taylor, a licensed athletic trainer
and director of physical therapy at RHD Memorial Medical Center in Dallas.
You can use one of
two scientific assessment tools to see if you're obese, according to the
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Obesity is determined by percentage
of body fat and weight. Having a large percentage of body fat, regardless
of how much you weigh, is unhealthy. You could be of normal weight or
underweight and still have an unhealthy amount of body fat. Being overweight
means that you have a heavy weight, but not necessarily too much body
fat. People who are muscular weigh more than those who are not; their
extra weight comes from muscle, not body fat.
According to NHLBI
guidelines, an assessment of whether you are overweight involves using
three key measures:
- Body mass index
(BMI)
- Waist circumference
- Risk factors
for diseases and conditions associated with obesity, which include high
blood pressure, high level of LDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, high
blood sugar and smoking.
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