It further recommends engaging in regular physical activity, defining this as 60 minutes a day for children, and 150 minutes total per week for adults. The WHO recommends limiting intake of calorie-dense foods, total fats, and sugars, while increasing the consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and nuts. Overweight and obesity, similarly to being underweight, can largely be reduced through changes in diet and exercise. When the underlying cause of a person being underweight is a mental health disorder such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa, treatment involves addressing the psychological problems in conjunction with physical approaches to increase weight. In addition, exercise such as weight lifting to increase muscle mass can also increase a person's weight. In the case of being underweight, increasing calorie intake through eating nutrient-rich foods such as whole-grains, vegetables, lean protein sources, and nuts and seeds more frequently can help underweight individuals to gain weight in a healthy manner. Managing these conditions however, involves addressing many similar underlying issues, including diet, exercise, and possible mental health disorders. Maintaining a Healthy Weightīeing underweight, overweight, or obese are conditions that lead to significantly different health complications. Because of all the potential complications of obesity, it has been found to reduce life expectancy, and is classified as one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide. It can also cause obstructive sleep apnea and depression (or sometimes be caused by depression). Obesity greatly increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke as well as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders including osteoarthritis, and some cancers. While it can be broken down to the simple, personal case of controlling energy intake and output, there is often more involved and managing obesity on a societal level has far from an algorithmic solution.
It is mostly preventable however, through lifestyle and diet changes, though there is still insufficient understanding of all the factors affecting obesity. There are rarer cases where obesity is caused primarily by genes, hormonal imbalances due to endocrine disorders, medications, or mental disorders. Obesity is typically caused by a lack of exercise, excessive food intake, and genetic susceptibility. Effects of Being Underweight, Overweight, and Obese While accurate for an "average" person, this means that it is possible to be categorized as overweight or underweight and still be "healthy," but this requires more than a generalized calculation to determine – likely with the help of a medical professional. Refer to the BMI Calculator for more information, but note that a "healthy body weight" is based on estimations that do not account for certain factors such as body composition. An adult aged 18 or older with a BMI between 18.5 and 25 kg/m 2 is typically defined as having a healthy or normal weight. Given a specific height, the calculator uses standard algorithms to calculate the range of possible body weights that fall within different categories of weight determined by BMI. During pregnancy and lactation, a woman's body composition changes, so using BMI is not appropriate.įor more information, visit Health Canada's Canadian Guidelines for Body Weight Classification in Adults.The range of healthy body weights is calculated based on BMI. Those with a lower muscle mass, such as children who have not completed their growth or the elderly who may be losing some muscle mass may have a lower BMI.
Those with a higher muscle mass, such as athletes, may have a high BMI but not be at greater health risk. This is because BMI does not take into account whether the weight is carried as muscle or fat, just the number.
Who shouldn't use a BMI calculatorīMI is not used for muscle builders, long distance athletes, pregnant women, the elderly or young children. The formula is BMI = kg/m 2 where kg is a person’s weight in kilograms and m 2 is their height in metres squared.Ī BMI of 25.0 or more is overweight, while the healthy range is 18.5 to 24.9. Body Mass Index is a simple calculation using a person’s height and weight.
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