<p>Height, Weight, BMI (Body Mass Index,) Fat content… the list goes on. The greatest obsession of our times has to be the obsession with obesity.<br /><br />So what is this stress inducing ‘obesity?’ Do we even know that accurately? In a general sense, the dictionary defines obesity as “very fat or overweight.” Dictionaries go on to give examples of the usage of this word as, “His ‘obesity’ puts him at risk for health problems.”<br /><br />With these dire warnings is it any wonder that we are obsessed? We are constantly stepping on scales, and then plugging numbers into “BMI calculators” on our laptops; if our BMI value is even a decimal point higher than the defined value for being overweight or obese we become stressed.<br /><br />The next step of course is to go to Google and check what ills await us. The very first entry is Wikipedia where obesity is listed as “a medical condition in which fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effects on health leading to reduced life expectancy.” That sounds pretty ominous.<br /><br />How far should these messages stress us out? Well most weight loss gurus advocate keeping our “numbers,” under the margins. The truth however, is that not all obese people need to lose weight.<br /><br />New evidence is revealing that obesity alone is not necessarily a predictor of bad health. Research has been done at Canada’s York University to show that the weight health relationship is not quite as simple as was believed.<br /><br />Dr Jennifer Kuk, a Professor at the University led a study comparing the health status of 6,000 obese people with 23,000 thinner people. The results showed that obese people with no physical or psychological issues had about the same risk of death as lean people and were actually less prone to die from heart disease.<br /><br />Obesity becomes risky only when it is accompanied by other conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and depression. <br /><br />Dr Kuk suggests that rather than going on crash diets when one finds that according to definition one is ‘obese,’ a doctor’s visit is called for. If the doctor finds that other than elevated weight there are no issues, then according to this research, the only thing to be done is focus on a healthy diet and regular physical activity. She stresses that in these cases, weight loss is not important.<br /><br />There have even been studies to show that trying to lose weight and failing could be detrimental to some people’s health. Another University in Canada, the University of Alberta, has devised a tool called Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS) which tells doctors whether you have obesity-related risk factors and require treatment like weight loss or in some extreme cases bariatric surgery.<br /><br />The developer of the EOSS is Dr Arya Sharma and he states emphatically that “BMI only measures how big you are — not how sick you are.” Thus it is important to change our mindset about weight and relax!<br /></p>
<p>Height, Weight, BMI (Body Mass Index,) Fat content… the list goes on. The greatest obsession of our times has to be the obsession with obesity.<br /><br />So what is this stress inducing ‘obesity?’ Do we even know that accurately? In a general sense, the dictionary defines obesity as “very fat or overweight.” Dictionaries go on to give examples of the usage of this word as, “His ‘obesity’ puts him at risk for health problems.”<br /><br />With these dire warnings is it any wonder that we are obsessed? We are constantly stepping on scales, and then plugging numbers into “BMI calculators” on our laptops; if our BMI value is even a decimal point higher than the defined value for being overweight or obese we become stressed.<br /><br />The next step of course is to go to Google and check what ills await us. The very first entry is Wikipedia where obesity is listed as “a medical condition in which fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effects on health leading to reduced life expectancy.” That sounds pretty ominous.<br /><br />How far should these messages stress us out? Well most weight loss gurus advocate keeping our “numbers,” under the margins. The truth however, is that not all obese people need to lose weight.<br /><br />New evidence is revealing that obesity alone is not necessarily a predictor of bad health. Research has been done at Canada’s York University to show that the weight health relationship is not quite as simple as was believed.<br /><br />Dr Jennifer Kuk, a Professor at the University led a study comparing the health status of 6,000 obese people with 23,000 thinner people. The results showed that obese people with no physical or psychological issues had about the same risk of death as lean people and were actually less prone to die from heart disease.<br /><br />Obesity becomes risky only when it is accompanied by other conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and depression. <br /><br />Dr Kuk suggests that rather than going on crash diets when one finds that according to definition one is ‘obese,’ a doctor’s visit is called for. If the doctor finds that other than elevated weight there are no issues, then according to this research, the only thing to be done is focus on a healthy diet and regular physical activity. She stresses that in these cases, weight loss is not important.<br /><br />There have even been studies to show that trying to lose weight and failing could be detrimental to some people’s health. Another University in Canada, the University of Alberta, has devised a tool called Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS) which tells doctors whether you have obesity-related risk factors and require treatment like weight loss or in some extreme cases bariatric surgery.<br /><br />The developer of the EOSS is Dr Arya Sharma and he states emphatically that “BMI only measures how big you are — not how sick you are.” Thus it is important to change our mindset about weight and relax!<br /></p>
