Know that you are aware of a great deal of obesity, the main question pops out, are you obese? If you have collar bones and shoulder blades showing off, then most likely, you don’t have to rush to find the answer. However, if you are consuming more calories than you are shedding, then you must know at earliest in order to control it.
Obesity can be measured in several parameters. The BMI and waist-hip ratio are the two main widely accepted parameters in all over the world, along with neck circumference. Let’s understand how these are measured and classified in details.
Body Mass Index
BMI or Quetelet index is a measurement of body weight with respect to height, in order to classify the individual and determine whether they have adequate, less or more weight than ideally supposed to be. It is obtained by dividing the body weight by square of a height of an individual. It is measured in kg/m2 thus, needless to say, the value should be converted into the respective unit system of measurement.
As per the guidelines of WHO, a BMI below 18.5 is underweight and that up to 22.5 is considered as normal. A BMI ranging from 22.6 to 27.5 is overweight and as soon as it touches 27.6, it is classified as obese, which is further subdivided into three subclasses. From 27.6 to 32.5 as obese class 1, from 32.6 to 37.5 as obese class 2 and 37.6 to 49.9 as obese class 3. Any in case, the BMI reaches 50, the individual falls in the category of super obese.
Waist to Hip Ratio
Simply known as WHR is as simple as it sounds. It is a dimensionless ratio as it is the direct correlation between the circumferential measurements of the waist to that of the hips. WHR is an indicator to measure the chances of developing health issues related to excessive body weight. This indicator is often correlated with fertility as well.
However, unlike the BMI, it does not have several classifications and a different range of both genders. It indicates underweight at less than 0.72, ideal at less than 0.80, overweight ranging between 0.80 to 0.84 and obese above 0.85 in the case of the female.
The value changes to depict underweight for less than 0.80, ideal at less than 0.90, overweight ranging between 0.90 to 0.99 and obese above 1.00 in the case of men.
The Waist to Hip ratio is very helpful as it tells about the exact body fat distribution in the body and helps to determine whether an individual is having the apple shaped body with excessive weight deposited around the waist or pear-shaped body with excessive weight spread around the hips.
Neck Circumference
Though it is not as widely employed as the aforementioned two, but neck circumference is yet another measure of deposition of adipose tissue in the body. It is measured from between the mid anterior neck and the mid cervical spine, using a non-stretchable tape. For men it is much easier to estimate by holding the tape across Adam’s apple. For women, it has to be a bit more careful and is to be placed just below the larynx.
As a word of caution, the individual must look straight ahead, with keeping the shoulders down and without hunching in order to get the correct measurement. Though there is no exact range to classify being overweight or obese, it has been found by several studies that a neck circumference of about 40 cm in case of men and about 35 cm in case of women is usually considered as a sign of potential obesity and should be considered as a threat.
