An interesting article today on the BBC today discussing health and body weight. It was sbout a study that surveyed over 2.8 Million people for over 15 years. One of the studies main conclusions was –

– Severely Obese People Were 50% higher risk of dying prematurely from any cause.

This shows how serious it is when carrying a large amount of extra weight. In recent years there have been all sorts of movements to try to show that overweight people are as healthy as normal weight etc but this position becomes very hard to argue scientifically when you enter the obese data ranges. Especially if talking about BMI of over 40 which classifies you as severely obese. 

The study also concluded that having a BMI of over 35 gave you a nine times greater chance of having type 2 diabetes. If you do not know you own BMI then simply use this calculator in the article >>>

The Most Surprising Thing About BMI

For me the most interesting thing about BMI is how easy it is to be overweight / obese without you or other people thinking you are. For a long time I have written about body fat creep and how what was a normal weight in say the 1970’s is almost viewed as too thin by today’s standards.

While we have become desensitised to what we consider normal/overweight the medical standards have not changed its data ranges and thus many people are overweight or obese without considering themselves to be. While many criticise BMI for me it is a really good system for probably 95% plus of people.

The odd body type exists that alters the data a little as does having muscle but as a rule it still works. For example, world champion bodybuilder Phil Heath is not severely obese on the data when he steps on stage (BMI ~35 -37 – 175cm x 110-115Kg) so it is unlikely the average person has enough muscle to distort the scale too much.  

The Good News About BMI & Health

The data seems to point out the major benefits of losing body fat on your health. Various studies have shown that losing 10Kg can permanently reverse Type 2 diabetes, as discussed in another BBC article and shown in the Fast Fix I reviewed last year.

The pathway to losing 10Kg+ can seem a like an impossible dream to many people. However, I have seen it happen time and time again helping people to transform their body both inside and out. It always starts with the mind, initially a decisions to make it happen must be made by you and then there are different routes to get you there. Most people do better with the help of a coach or support group because changing ingrained behaviours, especially around food and movement is hard. While some do it on their own most do not. This is why having a coach has been shown to be more effective than training alone>>> .

Photo – BMI Data for Men and Women aged 35-44. Find out your own data here>>> 

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