Weight Management

Weight Management

Weight management acquires special significance in today 's America where extra weight is turning into a serious problem affecting vast masses of population . The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that more than 56 percent of adults in the U .S . are overweight or obese (Gorrell , 2002 . Therefore , determination of obesity and extra weight and finding new effective ways to lose weight preserving health are al issues for many . At the same time , it is important to design strategies that will keep the weight within limits

Among the

measures used to assess the extra weight in people , the Body Mass Index (BMI ) computed using the individual 's weight and height , is the most popular . Although it does not specifically indicate the amount of bodily fat , it does correlate to direct measures of body fat , such as underwater weighing and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA (CDC , 2006 . Although this measure provides relatively little information about potential health hazards resulting from extra weight it is used by medical professionals as a quick-and-dirty estimates of potential problems . The formula for the Body Mass Index using pounds and inches is as follows

BMI [weight (lb / height (in / height (in )] x 703

The normal body weight is supposed to range between 18 .5 and 24 .9 , while people with a BMI exceeding 30 are supposed to be obese

It is important to find out whether one 's body is overweight or not because weight has strong influence on human health . Health risks related to extra weight include , but are not limited to Type 2 diabetes , heart disease and stroke , cancer , sleep apnea , osteoarthritis gallbladder disease , and fatty liver disease (NIH , 2004 . The increased incidence of heart stroke in overweight individuals is explained by the increase in LDL ( bad ) cholesterol in their blood and rise in blood pressure . In this case , the link is explicit , while the reasons for which extra weight increases the frequency of type 2 diabetes are not exactly clear , although the scholars have established a clear correspondence . The same is true for augmented cancer risk . With sleep apnea , a condition in which a person stops breathing for short periods during the night , the risk is increased by the presence of large amounts of fat around a person 's neck in case of extra weight

These health risks are enough of a reason to make overweight people aspire to lose at least part of their extra bodily fat . Added to this are the standards of beauty accepted in society that underscore the importance of being slim and even skinny to appeal to others , in particular for women . This is why most overweight people try to struggle to attain two desired end goals - lose weight and keep it off once lost

Scholars state that to lose weight , a person needs to make long-term changes in eating and physical activity habits (NIH , 2004 . A healthy diet will include vegetables , fruits , whole grains , and low-fat meat and dairy products (NIH , 2004 . To...