Latest update November 3rd, 2024 1:00 AM
Latest News
- “Guyana must demand a referendum on oil contract before 2025 elections”
- AFC supports call for referendum on 2016 oil deal -Patterson
- Dozens killed in airstrikes across Gaza as the UN restarts its polio vaccination campaign
- Heavily armed gunmen kidnap, rob nine Guyanese and Brazilians of raw gold, and guns at GGMC’s Marudi checkpoint
- Peru’s ex-president Toledo sentenced to more than 20 years in bribery case
Are you at a Healthy Weight?
(From the Desk of the Vector Control Director, Dr Reyaud Rahman)
Being overweight or obese means that you have an excessive amount of fat that has accumulated in your body
Dr Reyaud Rahman
and it may affect your health.
In fact, obesity is fast becoming a huge health problem globally, as it has doubled worldwide since the 1980s. However obesity remains a preventable challenge.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 2.8 million people die from being overweight or obese. This occurs because an individual will be at increased risk of cholesterol, diabetes, breast cancer, prostate cancer, kidney disease, gallstones, and heart disease.
To determine if a patient is overweight and at risk for these diseases mentioned, a Body Mass Index (BMI) test can be done. This is a simple measure of an individual’s weight for height. It is defined as a person’s weight in kilogrammes divided by the square of his height in metres (kg/m2).
It is important for an individual to be able to read a BMI scale. A BMI scale is used mainly to determine if an individual is underweight, overweight, has a healthy weight or is clinically obese.
By knowing your BMI you can make certain interventions like changing your diet and preventing certain threatening diseases which may potentially affect an individual in the near future.
A patient is considered at optimum weight if they are between 21 to 23 Kg/m2. Individuals are advised to maintain a body mass index of 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2.
Some common health problems associated with overweight and obesity are heart disease and stroke, osteoarthritis, endometrial cancer, colon cancer and breast cancer according to 2012 world health organization statistics.
To prevent obesity and overweight it is important for an individual to make healthy food choices and exercise regularly. Supportive environments and communities are important for shaping choices. Individuals should focus on eating less fatty or fried food. Adults should exercise for more than 150 minutes per week and 60 minutes a day for children.
A BMI scale remains the most useful population level measure for obesity and overweight as it is the same for men and women as well as for all ages of adults. BMI should be considered a rough guide as it may not be very accurate in all individuals.
To read a BMI scale an individual will need to know their height and weight and plot it on the graph provided. You will have a number which will tell you if you are underweight, overweight, at optimum (healthy weight), obese or very obese.
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