Bmi Health Quotes

More often than not, expecting to lose weight without first losing the diet that made the weight loss necessary is like expecting a pig to be spotless after hosing it down while it was still rolling in mud.

typical adult American male in 1900 had a healthy BMI of about 23, but since then BMI has steadily increased, albeit with a slight dip after World War II. The

people with a BMI between 25 and 35 had fewer deaths than those with a BMI between 18.5 and 25, which is normally considered healthy.

But multiple studies have shown what is labeled overweight (BMI between 25 and 30) is actually associated with lower death rate than what is labeled normal weight (BMI between 18.5 and 25).

These visceral (belly) fat cells behave differently than fat elsewhere in the body in two important ways.25 First, they are several times more sensitive to hormones and thus tend to be more metabolically active, which means they are capable of storing and releasing fat more rapidly than fat cells in other parts of the body. Second, when visceral cells release fatty acids (something fat cells do all the time), they dump the molecules almost straight into the liver, where the fat accumulates and eventually impairs the liver’s ability to regulate the release of glucose into the blood. An excess of belly fat (a paunch) is therefore a much greater risk factor for metabolic disease than a high BMI.

Cross-cultural studies suggest that larger people are not subject to the same diseases in countries where there is less stigma attached to weight.254 Also, in the United States, there is a stronger relationship between BMI and morbidity (disease) and mortality (early death) among groups more negatively affected by body image concerns (younger people, Caucasians, and women).278279280281 Even more telling, when researchers looked at a nationally representative group of more than 170,000 U.S. adults, they found the difference between actual weight and perceived ideal weight was a better indicator of mental and physical health than BMI.282 In other words, feeling fat has stronger health effects than being fat.

Weight stigma can contribute to health problems in a number of ways. Perhaps the most obvious one is that it’s stressful to be stigmatized for your size, and stress takes a physical toll on your body. The scientific term for this toll is allostatic load, meaning the cumulative effect of chronic stressors on multiple systems in the body: the cardiovascular system, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and metabolism. Because it looks at the entire body rather than isolated parts, allostatic load has been shown to be a more robust predictor of chronic-disease risk than other markers. And the research is clear that weight stigma has seriously detrimental whole-body effects. One study that followed close to 1,000 participants for ten years found that those who reported experiencing significant weight stigma over that period were twice as likely to have a high allostatic load as those who didn’t—regardless of actual BMI.5 In other words, weight stigma is an independent risk factor for physiological stress.

Ready for the diet and lifestyle recommendations of the most comprehensive review of the literature by an unbiased panel of the best-regarded experts in the world? Here goes: 1. Be as lean as possible, within the normal range of body weight. [Aim for the lower end of normal body mass index (BMI). In this book, we have seen that a plant-based diet is the best way to maintain low body weight.] 2. Be physically active as part of everyday life. 3. Limit consumption of energy-dense foods. Avoid sugary foods. [In other words, eat foods low in fat and high in fiber and water content. Foods low in fat and high in fiber are plant foods, not animal proteins.] 4. Eat mostly foods of plant origins. [The personal recommendation within this public health goal is to have at least five servings of fruits and veggies each day, and include pulses and unprocessed cereals with every meal.] 5. Limit intake of red meat and avoid processed meat. [The public health goal within the recommendation is to consume less than 300 grams (2/3 of a pound) per week. Being completely vegetarian does reduce cancer risk, but we can’t rule out the possibility that the difference is due to other aspects of a healthy lifestyle.] 6. Limit alcoholic drinks. 7. Limit consumption of salt. Avoid moldy cereals (grains) or pulses (legumes). 8. Aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone. [That is, without dietary supplements.]

There is also clear evidence that the most protective weight for health purposes is a BMI of 27.5 (if one accepts the BMI at all) - a figure that is presently in the recently designated overweight category. Interestingly, overweight people who exercise have a lower mortality rate that thin people who do not. So one is led to wonder why thin has erroneously become the gold standard for health.

A recent article in the New York Times highlighted the angst that parents currently feel about feeding their children. In response to both the obesity and eating disorders epidemics that have targeted children, the intuitive eating movement was born, embraced by culturists and some nutritionists as a healthier way of eating. Intuitive eating allows kids to eat whatever they want whenever they want. If obesity were about hunger, then this might be a rational modality. But eating is sometimes done in response to reward or stress, and kids often turn to sugar. As I said in Chapter 2, weight and BMI are often irrelevant to health, and there’s no place for fat-shaming in our society. But these intuitive eaters have taken the issue too far the other way, by refusing to demonize any food or ingredient—they still fallaciously believe a calorie is a calorie.

Fortunately, there may be an even better tool than BMI that we can use to gauge the health risks of body fat. It’s called Waist-to-Height Ratio, or WHtR.120 Instead of a scale, grab a simple measuring tape. Stand up straight and take a deep breath, exhale, and let it all hang out. The circumference of your belly (halfway between the top of your hip bones and the bottom of your rib cage) should be half your height—ideally, less. If that measurement is more than half your height, it’s time to start eating healthier and exercising more regardless of your weight.

And rather than tirelessly push weight loss per se, we should promote cardiometabolic fitness and encourage people of all sizes to think about their health in terms of how well they eat and exercise rather than a number on the scale (or BMI).

takes many years for heart disease to develop. A 2007 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) study suggests that even adolescents and young adults show some of the warning signs for developing heart disease. Having a high body mass index (BMI) or higher than optimal blood pressure or LDL (“bad”) cholesterol between ages 18 and 30 can mean a two to three times greater risk of developing heart disease. Regrettably, more and more adolescents and young adults are developing these signs because of poor diet and lack of physical activity. You can significantly lower your chances of heart disease by adopting the measures described below.

In 2013, the Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a study that aimed to find, once and for all, the link between mortality rates and BMI (a.k.a. is our fat really killing us?). The study was led by Katherine Flegal, an epidemiologist at the National Center for Health Statistics, and her colleagues. After analyzing ninety-seven studies of mortality rates and BMI that included almost 3 million people, Flegal found what’s known as a “U-shaped curve.” At the top ends of the curve, where death rates were the highest, are people whose BMIs categorize them as either severely underweight or severely obese. At the lowest point of the curve, where death rates are the lowest, are people whose BMI falls within the “overweight” category. Meaning that statistically, people who are overweight according to BMI had the lowest risk of death. Following the U-shaped curve, people whose BMI fell within the “mildly obese” category had no higher risk of death than people within the “normal” category. The increased mortality rate came at the extremes, either side.

The pharmaceutical industry, which has a vested interest in making us believe that fat is dangerous—and that they have a solution—wrote the BMI standards that are currently used.

The pharmaceutical industry, which has a vested interest in making us believe that fat is dangerous—and that they have a solution—wrote the BMI standards that are currently used. The derivation of children’s BMI standards was even worse. They were just arbitrarily assigned, without even the pretense of considering health data.

Because my BMI is no longer dangerously low, nobody can force me to see a nutritionist. I have read the whole health section at Barnes & Noble. I can figure out what to eat.