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Wednesday, 27 May 2015

Weight Check


Human body weight is used informally and in the biological and medical sciences to refer to a person's mass or weight. Your body weight is a determiner of your health. One can be underweight, normal, overweight or even obese. But how would you know if your body weight is okay or not for your age? This is made possible by the introduction of Body Mass Index(BMI) or Quetelet index.

Body Mass Index is a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of the person's height in metres. Thus, the unit for BMI is kg/m^2.

The good news is that one can calculate one's BMI by oneself. Helping you to keep your weight in check

The BMI is an attempt to quantify the amount of tissue mass (muscle, fat and bone) in an individual,  and then categorize the person as  underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese based on that value. The generally accepted BMI ranges are:
          Underweight: <18.5
          Normal: 18.5 - 24.9
          Overweight: 25.0 - 29.9
          Obese: 30 and above
Obese and overweight individuals have weight that is greater than it should be for their health. Underweight individuals have weight that is lower than it should be for their health. Body weight depends on your sex and height and for children,  it also depends on their age. A sudden, unexpected change in weight can be a sign of a medical problem and this is one of the reasons why keeping your weight in check is important. It can be useful as a sign for urgent medical attention thus preventing progression of pathological conditions into chronic states.

Causes of sudden weight gain include:

  1. Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
  2. Diabetes treatment
  3. Ageing
  4. Steroid treatment
  5. Cushing's syndrome
  6. Stress and low mood
  7. Tiredness and lack of sleep
  8. Fluid retention (oedema)
  9. Polycystic ovarian syndrome
Causes of sudden weight loss:
  1. Hyperthyroidism
  2. Addison Disease
  3. Alcohol abuse
  4. Anorexia Nervosa
  5. Arthritis
  6. Cancer
  7. Dehydration
  8. Diabetes mellitus
  9. Diabetes insipidus
  10. HIV
  11. Malabsorption
Good nutrition and exercise can help in losing weight. Eating extra calories within a well-balanced diet and treating any underlying medical problems can help to add weight.

Jalzy2015

References:
  • Human body weight- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Body Weight: MedlinePlus
  • Body Mass Index - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Body Mass Index- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • 7 weird reasons you are gaining weight- www.prevention.com
  • Weight loss: Check your symptoms- www.medlinenet.com
  • thinkpinkgirl.wordpress.com

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