              |
 |
 June 2005 Back to Table of Contents Back to Archives Main Page Section: Being Well OK To Be Overweight? By Sophie Knab For years, national health officials have been close to hysteria over our nation’s obesity problem, citing it as our No. 2 preventable cause of death. Because we care about our health — our most valuable asset — we’ve listened to those reports and struggled to eat right, to exercise more and to maintain a healthy weight. Now, a new study has reconfigured America’s weight problem as the No. 7 preventable cause of death. The new study, conducted by the Center for Disease Control in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute, released findings indicating that people defined as overweight (using a formula called Body Mass Index which correlates weight to height) but not obese, had a lower risk of death than people of normal weight, that “a modest amount of excess weight” was actually good for us. Imagine that! This from an agency that has touted the risks associated with weight gain for decades. What does this new finding mean? Being a little overweight, by itself, does not cause you to die. Do you smoke? Drink excessively? Have a pre-existing medical condition? Neglect yourself physically by canceling doctor’s appointments? Live under tremendous stress? Did someone in your family die of diabetes or high blood pressure? If the answer is yes to any of the above, then your overall picture changes. Be careful not to take the latest studies as a license to be complacent about what you eat or to be less than vigilant about the health risks involved with increased weight gain. The study only looked at death rates — not disability or disease that is caused by being overweight. Big difference. Let’s say that right now you are a little bit overweight. That’s alright. (The CDC just said so.) But let’s say you said yes to even some of the above questions. Then take into consideration that as we age our metabolism slows down considerably and we burn calories more slowly, resulting in weight gain if we’re not careful about our food intake. Add to this the fact that most of us don’t have a good handle on what should be our daily caloric intake. We may tend to eat, nibble, graze, snack, have a taste of this, take a bite of that indiscriminately throughout the day. When we go out to eat we like big portions where the food comes on a plate the size of a hubcap. It makes us feel we’re getting our money’s worth. Add to that a Western New York winter, where we hunker down for months at a time to wait out the storms. Or maybe you want to be active, but you have developed such ailments as arthritis that can slow your activity level down considerably. What you have then is a recipe for obesity as well as a risk for a host of other problems that often come as a complete package — diabetes and its multiple complications, high cholesterol levels that can lead to heart conditions and high blood pressure that can cause a stroke. Weight does matter. Here’s a quick way to figure out your ideal body weight. Men: Let’s say you stand 5 feet 10 inches. For the first 5 feet of your height, write down 106 pounds. For each additional inch of height add six pounds (6 x 10 = 60). Total = 166 pounds. Your ideal body weight can be 10% higher or lower depending on your body size. So a 5-foot-10-inch man should weigh between 149 and 182 pounds. Women: Let’s say you stand 5 feet 2 inches. For the first 5 feet of height, write down 100 pounds. For each additional inch of height, add five pounds (2 x 5 = 10). Total = 110 pounds. Your ideal body weight can also be 10% higher or lower. So a 5-foot-2-inch woman should weigh between 99 and 121 pounds. back to top back to table of contents Current Issue | About Forever Young | Where to Find | Advertise | Our Advertisers | Community Calendar | Contest | Clubs | Contact Us | Archives | Home |