Is Your Weight a Good Measure of Your Health?

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Q: Is your weight a good measure of your health?

A: No. It's important but there are a range of other measures that are also important.

Our expert: Professor Mark Harris

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We all know someone w ho eats bad food and doesn't exercise, yet never gains a kilo. On the other hand, there are some people w ho seemingly do everything right, but are constantly struggling to maintain, or lose, w eight.

It's w ell-know n that carrying excess w eight isn't good for your health, it increases your risk of high blood pressure and cholesterol, as w ell as your risk of developing chronic illnesses including type II diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

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But experts say it's important to remember that your w eight is only part of the equation w hen it comes to measuring your health.

"It's just one risk factor," says Professor Mark Harris, director of the Centre for Obesity Management and Prevention in Primary Health Care at the University of New South Wales.

"Your blood pressure, cholesterol, level of physical activity and w hether you smoke are also important.

They add up to your risk of heart disease or diabetes, for example."

Also a healthy w eight varies depending on your age and if you have any health problems, says Professor John Dixon, head of clinical obesity research at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute.

"That's w hy w e should focus on quality food, nutrition and physical activity, rather than the obsession w ith w eight and thinking if everyone just w eighed less w e'd be better off – because that's not the case," he says.

Measuring up Rather than w eight many doctors tend to look at your Body Mass Index, w hich ranks you as underw eight, healthy, overw eight or obese, in relation to your height and w eight.

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Harris says it's easy to determine your BMI using an online calculator and it can tell you if you've gained or lost a lot of w eight, both of w hich can be indicators of something serious.

But there are limitations to BMI and it can be a misleading measure for children and young people, certain ethnic groups and even athletes.

Dr Kellie Bilinski, spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia, says it's important to note that muscle is heavier than fat.

"Tw o people could be the same w eight, but one is a lot more muscular and therefore at a low er risk of obesity and heart disease," she says.

How ever, Dixon says these people are generally the exception and not the rule, so it's important not to kid yourself into thinking your higher BMI is due to muscle mass.

"Athletes like rugby players can be 'obese', but it's because they have a lot of muscle. But most Australians aren't rugby players," he says.

Location, location, location But neither w eight, nor BMI take into consideration where you store fat, w hich can be a pow erful indicator of your health.

The middle-aged spread is often an accepted part of ageing. But people w ho carry their extra kilograms on their stomachs are at a much higher risk of chronic disease than those w ho carry it on their hips and thighs.

You get more visceral fat around your middle and it usually gives people a big belly or 'apple shape'.

Storing fat in this w ay is bad new s as it surrounds the vital organs in your abdomen. The excess fatty acids leak into the liver causing inflammation and insulin resistance, w hich can lead to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases dow n the track.

This is w hy keeping track of your w aist size is just as important as know ing how heavy you are, again any significant changes to this need to be investigated by your doctor.

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"Markers of heart disease and metabolic syndrome are an increase in w aist circumference, w eight and high levels of cholesterol," Harris w arns.

The right measurements To get an accurate measurement of your w aist circumference, follow these steps: The tape measure should be placed directly on your skin, or on no more than one layer of light clothing; The correct place to measure your w aist is horizontally halfw ay betw een your low est rib and the top of your hipbone. This is roughly in line w ith your belly button; Breathe out normally and take the measure; Make sure the tape is snug, w ithout squeezing the skin.

A measurement of more than 94 centimetres for w estern men, 85 centimetres for South Asian and Chinese men, and 80cm for w omen puts you at a much higher risk of disease.

For more on your w aist measurement and how to do it visit Is your w eight healthy?

Upward trajectory Maintaining a healthy w aist size is especially important in our young and middle-aged years, Dixon stresses. "An upw ard trajectory w orries me, because it is a bad sign of w here people are heading".

On the other hand, he says if you are older and have a slightly larger w aist size, but lead a healthy and active lifestyle, drink in moderation and don't smoke, then generally you don't need to w orry about losing w eight. In fact, there is some evidence to suggest carrying more w eight in our older years can be beneficial.

For most people, your BMI and w aist measurements are simple things that "w ill give you 95 per cent of the information you need to know ", Harris says.

He says if your w eight has crept up, then it's not a bad idea to have a GP test your blood pressure, cholesterol and fitness level, and tailor a plan to stop you from gaining more. Because once you put on a lot w eight, it w ill be almost impossible to lose it again and keep it off.

Measuring fitness But none of these measures give you any clues about another vitally important indicator of your health – your aerobic fitness.

"It can determine our overall health and people w ith a higher VO2 max generally have low er levels of mortality," explains Dr Chris Askew , from Exercise and Sports Science Australia. (Your VO2 max, is your body's ability to use and transport oxygen during exercise.)

It's most accurately measured by an exercise or sports scientist, w ho'll collect the air you breathe w hile w orking up a sw eat. "The difference betw een how much oxygen and carbon dioxide is in that air tells us how much oxygen someone's using," Askew says.

The fitter you are, the more oxygen you'll use.

W hile online calculators can give you a rough idea, it w on't be nearly as accurate, Askew says.

"These are called 'non-exercise estimates', w here you plug your age, race, height, w eight and how much activity you do, and it comes up w ith a prediction of your VO2. But that's w orked out based on previous research of the fitness levels of w hole populations."

Professor Mark Harris, director of the Centre for Obesity Management and Prevention in Primary Health Care at the University of New South Wales, spoke to Cassie W hite.

Published 07/04/2014

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Adrian Day :

15 Apr 2014 11:53:38am

Muscle w eighs heavier than fat? Please tell us. If I have 1kg of fat and 1kg of muscle, they are still 1kg. Yes they have different sizes, but they w eigh the same. They also provide you w ith a different metabolic rate as w ell.

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Susie :

23 Apr 2014 9:36:21am

Muscle is denser than fat. There w ill be a larger volume of fat per kilogram than there w ill be for muscle.

Muscle is metabolically active tissue and the more muscle you have the higher your base metabolic rate w ill be (in general terms).

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Marilyn :

14 Apr 2014 9:13:24am

I'm over this w aist measurement stuff. It doesn't take into account height or the fact that some w omen just have thick w aists (like me and my mother before me). My mother

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