Health and Fitness Blog: obesity causing foods

If you are obese or overweight, you have an increased risk of developing various health problems. Even a modest amount of weight loss can help to reduce your increased health risks. The best chance of losing weight and keeping the weight off, is to be committed to a change in lifestyle. This includes eating a healthy diet and doing some regular physical activity. See also separate leaflet called Obesity and Overweight in Children.

Are you obese or overweight?

If you are obese or overweight, this means that you are carrying excess body fat. Being overweight or obese is not just about how you look. Over time, it means that you have an increased risk of developing various health problems. As an adult, you can find out whether you are overweight or obese and whether your health may be at risk, by calculating your body mass index (BMI) and measuring your waist circumference.

Body mass index (BMI)

People are different heights and builds, so just weighing yourself cannot be used to decide if your weight is healthy. BMI is used by healthcare professionals to assess if someone's weight is putting their health at risk. It is a measure of your weight related to your height.

To calculate your BMI, you divide your weight (in kilograms) by the square of your height (in metres). So, for example, if you weigh 70 kg and are 1.75 metres tall, your BMI is 70/(1.75 x 1.75), which is 22.9.

If you do not have scales at home, your practice nurse can measure your height, weigh you and calculate your BMI or try out our BMI calculator.

The table below shows how to interpret your BMI. In general, the more your BMI is over 25, the more overweight or obese you are and the greater the risk to your health.

BMI	Classed As	Health Risk
Less than 18.5	Underweight	Some health risk
18.5 to 24.9	Ideal	Normal
25 to 29.9	Overweight	Moderate health risk
30 to 39.9	Obese	High health risk
40 and over	Very obese	Very high health risk

On the whole, BMI is a good estimate of how much of your body is made up of fat. However, BMI may be less accurate in very muscular people. This is because muscle weighs heavier than fat. So, someone who is very muscular may have a relatively high BMI due to the weight of their muscle bulk but actually have a proportionally low and healthy amount of body fat.

Waist circumference

If you are overweight, measuring your waist circumference can also give some information about your risk of developing health problems (particularly coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes). If two overweight or obese people have the same BMI, the person with a bigger waist circumference will be at a greater risk of developing health problems due to their weight. This is because it is not just whether you are carrying excess fat but where you are carrying it. The risks to your health are greater if you mainly carry a lot of extra fat around your waist ('apple-shaped'), rather than mainly on your hips and thighs ('pear-shaped').

The easiest way to measure your waist circumference is to place the tape measure around your waist at belly button level.

As a rule for a man:

If you have a waist measurement of 94 cm or above, the risk to your health is increased.
If you have a waist measurement of 102 cm or above, the risk is even higher.

As a rule for a woman:

If you have a waist measurement of 80 cm or above, the risk to your health is increased.
If you have a waist measurement of 88 cm or above, the risk is even higher.

Note: for people from Asian backgrounds, the increased health risks may start at a lower waist circumference. Your doctor or practice nurse can advise.

What are the health risks of being overweight or obese?

If you are overweight or obese, from day to day you may:

Feel tired and lacking in energy.
Experience breathing problems (for example, shortness of breath when moving around, or not being able to cope with sudden bursts of physical activity like running across the road).
Feel that you sweat a lot compared with other people.
Develop skin irritation.
Have difficulty sleeping.
Get complaints from your partner that you snore.
Experience back and joint pains which can affect your mobility.

You may also have an increased risk of developing:

Impaired glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes).
Type 2 diabetes.
High cholesterol or triglyceride levels.
High blood pressure.
Coronary heart disease.
Stroke.
Sleep apnoea (this is when your breathing patterns are disturbed while you are sleeping, due to excess weight around your chest, neck and airways).
Fertility problems.
Complications in pregnancy (including an increased risk of high blood pressure during pregnancy, diabetes during pregnancy, preterm labour, caesarean section).
Stress incontinence (leaking urine when you are, for example, laughing, coughing, etc).
Gallstones.
Cancers (including colon, breast and endometrial(womb) cancer).
Gout.
Fatty liver.

Many people can also develop psychological problems because of being overweight or obese. For example: low self-esteem; poor self-image (not liking how you look); low confidence; feelings of isolation. These feelings may affect your relationships with family members and friends and, if they become severe, may lead to depression.

Being obese (having a BMI >30) can also affect your overall life expectancy: you are more likely to die at a younger age. An analysis in 2009 of almost one million people from around the world showed that if you have a BMI between 30 and 35, you are likely to die 2-4 years earlier than average. If your BMI is between 40 to 45, you are likely to die 8-10 years earlier than average.

Another analysis showed that if you are a woman who is obese at the age of 40, you are likely to die 7.1 years earlier than average. If you are a man who is obese at the age of 40, you are likely to die 5.8 years earlier than average. If you smoke as well, your life expectancy is reduced even further.