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The health and care people
Maintaining a healthy weight
The time of year can often determine how our body shapes will be. As we emerge from the long dark days of winter into the sun–filled days of spring and summer it’s a great time to reassess our physical fitness. Each person’s body make–up is unique; our body shapes are in part determined by the genes we inherit. Certain people may be prone to carrying more weight on their frame and this, combined with poor eating and activity habits, can result in weight gain and even obesity. If your body is an 'apple shape' [where you put on weight around your belly area] rather than a 'pear shape' [weight is distributed around hips and thighs], you may be at a greater risk of developing medical conditions, including heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure and even some types of cancer. However, as we all know, being significantly underweight also leads to serious medical complications. There are a number of ways to measure what your healthy weight should be. A common way is by measuring your body mass index [BMI], which calculates total body fat; it is measured by dividing weight in kilograms by height in metres squared. This link will help you calculate your BMI easily, and tells you what your ideal BMI should be. An increasingly popular measure of a healthy body shape is the waist–to–hip ratio. You can work out your waist–to–hip ratio by dividing the measurement of your waist by that of your hips. For men, a ratio should ideally not be over 0.90. For women, that figure is 0.85. The higher the number above these values, the greater your risk of heart disease.
Once you have an understanding of what healthy weight is, you are on the first step to making the necessary changes to achieve your ideal weight. If you would like to lose some extra pounds that have crept on over the winter months, why not start with making a plan? Choosing a diet and exercise regime is always a good place and involving your local practice nurse or nutritionist in the process will help establish a goal that’s right for you. When controlling your weight, whether under or over, consider your ‘input output combination’: Whatever food you consume needs to be balanced by taking an appropriate amount of exercise. Maintain a healthy diet by eating foods high in vitamins and minerals but low in fat, sugar, and salt. Try to achieve at least 30 minutes of physical activity at least three times per week. If working towards weight loss you will need to reduce your calories and increase your exercise. Whether tall or short, thick–set or slim, remember that keeping a healthy weight will be best for you in the long run. It’s something we all can work towards achieving and what better time than now. Bring on summer, Dr Sneh Khemka, assistant medical director, BUPA. Infolink: BUPA, the health and care people. Telephone: 0800 00 10 10. Website: www.bupa.co.uk. From your browser | Email the page | Email the page link | Print the page | Add page to favourites Handy guide to wellbeing series | For you, family and friends
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