Are You Overweight?


The first step in losing weight is asking "Am I overweight?" Here you can find out whether or not you are part of the 1/3 (and growing) rate of Americans that are overweight and obese. Statistics on overweight Americans is that over 97 million Americans (that's nearly 35%) are overweight. This figure is growing every year.

 

 


 Feet on Scale


Overweight Statistics


  • 35% of adults overweight in the USA (US Government Statistics)
  • 50% of women aged 20 to 74 are overweight or obese in the US (The National Women's Health Information Center)
  • 12% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 overweight in the USA (US Government Statistics)
  • 1 in 4 children are overweight in the USA (World Heart Federation Fact-Sheet, 2002)
  • Estimated 22 million children under 5 years are overweight worldwide(World Heart Federation Fact-Sheet, 2002)
  • Costs for Overweight: $99.2 billion total including direct $51.6 billion and indirect $47.6 billion (NIDDK)



Overweight Calculator


You can help yourself stay out of this epidemic by finding out if your are overweight: through checking your waist circumference and checking your body mass index (BMI). Generally speaking, BMI is finding the different ratio between your weight and your height, not emphasizing your age.


Waist Circumference


The first way to determine excess fat is by measuring your waist. Though it is not necessarily a tool in finding if you are overweight, excess fat in your abdomen signals that you may have more fat elsewhere on your body, which increases health risks even more.


Take a tape measure and wrap it around your waist. For women, the tipping point is 35 inches (appx 88.9 centimeters) and for men, it is more than 40 inches (101.6 centimeters).

 

 

 Belly Fat

 


Body Mass Index (BMI)


The Body Mass Index (BMI) table is a an overweight calculator tool to determine whether a person is overweight depending on his or her weight versus their height. (It is a weight:height ratio). Generally, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered healthy, 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and 30 or more is considered obese. Whether you are an overweight woman, overweight boy or girl, or the children of overweight parents, this overweight test will help you discover what you need to do to keep yourself in a healthy weight range and out of the dangers and risks of being overweight or obese.


Below is a BMI table which you can use to find if you and your health is at risk.
BMI table
*(C) BMI Table is from Health.gov