What is overweight?

The National Institutes of Health, the US government's chief repository of the latest scientific knowledge, issues guidelines for who is overweight and what they should do. They use a measure to define being overweight called the body-mass index (BMI). The body-mass index is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared. You can find out your BMI by going to the HealthandAge BMI Calculator where you can enter your particulars in pounds and feet/inches. Find out your BMI

According to this new gold standard, 97 million adult Americans, or about 55%, are overweight. Until this government pronouncement, if you were one of the 55% of Americans with a BMI of 26 or lower you were OK. Now you need to have a BMI below 25 to be in the not-overweight category. For those 29 million Americans who have a BMI of 25 and 26, which includes this author (I am 72 inches tall and weigh 183 pounds, BMI = 25), you have gone from being just right to being overweight.

What does your BMI mean for your health and longevity?

It is clearly a great windfall for the companies that make diet medicines to have 29 million extra overweight Americans. But, I'm not so sure what these numbers mean for you or me. If you have a BMI below 25, there is little to be concerned about, the government still considers you to be O.K. If you are overweight with a BMI of 25 or 26 and you don't have diabetes, high blood pressure, gall bladder disease, sleep apnea or severe arthritis, join me and don't start worrying. Having a few extra pounds in later life will probably not decrease your longevity, particularly if you don't have any additional risk factors such as being a smoker, having a high cholesterol or a family history of heart disease. If your BMI is 25 or 26, and you don't have these diseases or risk factors, you probably will do just fine, particularly if you have been a little overweight most of your life.

In fact, a few extra pounds might even protect you. In the Swedish Hip Fracture Study, those women who gained weight during adult life had a significantly decreased risk of fracturing their hips ¹. By contrast, studies have shown that women who lose weight have a substantially increased risk of this serious life-threatening condition ². The best explanation as to why additional weight protects you from a hip fracture is that a little extra cushioning around your hip helps to absorb some of the shock of the fall and thus prevents a devastating hip fracture.

Later in life, having a few extra pounds may even improve your health and longevity. In a study of individuals in their seventies, those with the best chances of survival had BMI's that were 27-29 (men) and 25-27 kg/m (women) ³.

These studies do not give you a license to head for the brownies, cheesecake or Haagen-Daz. But they do question the future health of fashion models if they don't put on a few pounds during their mid-life.

It makes a difference where the extra pounds go!

One of the interesting discoveries in aging research is that pounds that are added to your hips are not as detrimental to your health and longevity as pounds added to your waistline. All the evidence shows that it's better to resemble a pear than an apple. The pear-shaped figures of the women who posed for Rubens and Renoir probably did not cause them any serious health problems. However, the massive beer bellies that you might bump into at an NFL game carry with them a significant health risk.

The same National Institutes of Health guidelines that give the new definitions of overweight by using your BMI recognize the importance of where the extra pounds go, and urge physicians to measure your waist in addition to your height and weight. For men, a waist measurement of more than 40 inches increases your risk of heart disease and diabetes, while a waist of more than 35 inches places women at increased risk.

Information provided in this article is for informational purposes and is not meant to substitute for the advice furnished by your own physician or other medical professional. This content should not be utilized for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication. Before taking any health product, you should read carefully all product packaging. If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, promptly contact your health care provider. Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.