Weight Issues

Weight is rapidly becoming a major health issue in the western world. It is a perverse fact that health problems in the west are being caused by obesity when health problems in may other parts of the world are being cause by lack of food and/or clean drinking water!

What is meant by 'being obese'? The answer is that anyone with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above is considered to be obese.

What is meant by 'being overweight'? The answer is that anyone with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or above is considered to be overweight.

The body mass index is calculated by dividing a persons height (in meters) into their weight (in kilograms). There are other factors that need to be taken into account. So a person whose BMI is near the levels where it is considered that they are obese will need to take advice to establish if they need to take steps to improve their health.

It has been shown that excessive body weight predisposes some people to a range of various diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, sleep apnoea and osteoarthritis.