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Check Out Your BMI
If your Body Mass Index (BMI) is 25-29 your are considered overweight.
Anything over 30 is considered obese. Body mass is calculated by dividing
your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared. For example,
a 5 ft. 5 in. woman weighing 180 lbs has a BMI of 30, as does a 6 ft.
2 in. man weighing 233 lbs. More than 9 million Americans are considered
morbidly obese, meaning they are more than 100 pounds overweight.
According to the latest figures from the Surgeon General David Satcher,
more than 61% of all adults can be classified as fat (either overweight
or obese), 27% are considered obese, double the level 20 years ago. As
many as 300,000 deaths may be attributed to obesity in the United States
each year. But the problem is not just a concern for adults. The prevalence
of obesity for adolescents has nearly tripled in the past two decades.
According to the latest available figures, 25% of American children are
overweight or obese and 11% of children are frankly obese.
Obesity is strongly associated with an increased risk of developing
diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, heart and respiratory
failure, breast, prostate and gut cancer, gallstones and arthritis. Obese
individuals have a 50 to 100 percent greater risk of premature death
from all causes compared to individuals without excess weight.
Check Your BMI:
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