How excess weight is ruining your future, and your kids’ too
One more time, we’re weighing in on the goodness of maintaining a healthy weight. And we have some intriguing new insights into weighty matters — and innovative solutions to help you effectively achieve your best weight and stroll the planet for a few more years.
So What Is a Healthy Weight? Every person’s healthy weight depends on age, height, amount of body fat versus muscle, and specific health challenges. But in general you’re carrying excess weight if your waist circumference is over 40 inches for a guy and 35 inches for a gal and/or if your body mass index is above 25. A BMI above 30 puts you at substantial risk for obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease; and above 40 means you’re morbidly obese. (See BMI charts at www.myclevelandclinic.org.)
What Are the Newly Discovered Consequences of Overweight and Obesity?
The latest revelations come from a joint Cleveland Clinic-New York University School of Medicine study. Presenting their work at the recent 2017 Society of General Internal Medicine annual meeting, the researchers revealed the dangers of overtipping the scales; you lose up to 47 percent more life years from obesity than from tobacco or high blood pressure — and you know how notorious those two are for their life-shortening powers (each makes your RealAge four years older)!
The top five life-shortening conditions came in as obesity, diabetes, tobacco use, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. And many of YOU have two, three or more of those risk factors!