Body mass index, or BMI, is a measure of body size. Combine a person’s weight with their height. The results of a BMI measurement can give a general idea and make it clear if a person is normal weight, based on weight and height.
BMI is a screening tool that can indicate whether a person is underweight or if they have a healthy weight, excess weight or obesity. If a person’s BMI is outside the healthy range, their health risks can significantly increase.
Being too overweight can lead to a variety of diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems.
Too low a weight can increase the risk of diseases such as osteoporosis and anemia.
BMI does not directly measure body fat and does not take into account age, gender, or muscle mass.
However, it uses standard weight status categories that can help doctors track weight status in populations and identify potential problems in individuals. Basic information on calculating a child’s BMI
Contents
- Basic information on calculating a child’s BMI
- How to interpret the BMI results
- Health Risks of Excess Weight
- Benefits of a healthy weight
- Other values ​​of a healthy body
- Childhood obesity
- Conclusions
In adults, BMI values ​​are not related to age and are the same for both genders.
However, measuring BMI in children and adolescents is slightly different. Girls and boys develop at different rates and have different amounts of fat based on age. For this reason, BMI measurements during childhood and adolescence take age and gender into account.
Doctors and other health professionals do not classify children by healthy weight groups because:
- They can vary according to the difference in age, even minimal;
- Male and female body types change at different rates;
- They change as the child gets taller.
Doctors calculate BMI for children and adolescents in the same way they do for adults, by measuring height and weight. Then they identify the BMI value and the person’s age on a table of values ​​broken down by specific age and by gender. This will indicate whether the baby is within a range considered healthy. How to interpret BMI results BMI
does not give us an accurate enough value to be used as a diagnostic tool, but it can be a screening for potential weight problems in adults and children.
If someone has a high or low BMI, a doctor or other health care practitioner might consider other factors, such as:
- Skin thickness measurements, which indicate how much fat there is in the body in adults and children;
- Assessments of diet and physical activity;
- Investigate family history of cardiovascular disease and other health problems;
- Recommend other appropriate screenings.
Your doctor or healthcare professional can then make recommendations for diet and exercise based on these results. Health Risks of Excess
Weight Excess weight has the following effects on the body:
- Increases the workload of the heart;
- Increases blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood;
- Lowers high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or good cholesterol levels;
- It can promote the onset of diabetes and other health problems;
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), having extra weight can increase the risk of developing the following diseases:
- Hypertension, or high blood pressure;
- Dyslipidemia, which also involves high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol or high triglyceride levels;
- Type 2 diabetes;
- Coronary heart disease;
- Stroke;
- Gallbladder disease;
- Osteoarthritis;
- Sleep apnea and breathing problems;
- Some cancers, including endometrial, breast and colon cancer.
Carrying extra weight as a child or teenager can also carry significant health risks, both in childhood and into adulthood.
As with adult obesity, childhood obesity increases the risk of various health problems, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and sleep apnea.
The American Heart Association (AHA) points out that children with a high BMI index also have a higher risk of developing:
- Asthma;
- Low self-esteem and psychological stress.
Benefits of a Healthy Weight
In addition to reducing the risk of disease, maintaining a healthy weight offers additional benefits:
- Less joint and muscle pain;
- Increased energy and ability to participate in more activities;
- Better regulation of body fluids and blood pressure;
- Less load on the heart and circulatory system;
- Better sleeping capacity.
Other values ​​of a healthy body
BMI is a useful tool, but it cannot tell us whether a person’s weight is made up of muscle or fat.
For example, an athlete with a lot of muscle tissue may have a higher BMI than a person who is not very active. But this does not mean that the athlete is overweight.
Additionally, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure are more likely to occur in people who have a higher amount of fat, known as visceral fat, which is generally found in the abdomen and hip area.
Among the other useful values ​​to understand if it is the weight and in the parameters, there are the waist-hip ratio, the waist-height ratio and the body composition, which measures body fat and lean mass. These measurement systems focus more on a person’s amount of fat and its distribution around the body.
Together with BMI, these additional measures can help you more accurately assess the health risks associated with weight. Childhood
obesity Childhood obesity is growing at an alarming rate almost everywhere. Did you know that India has more than 14.4 million obese children, the second highest in the world after China
A 2017 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine reported that the number would reach 17 million by 2025.
The World Health Organization has called childhood obesity one of the most serious public health problems. Conclusions
BMI can be a useful screening tool to predict some health risks. However, people should use it with caution, as it does not take into account other factors, such as activity levels and body composition.
For children and adolescents, it is important to include their age and gender when measuring BMI, as their bodies are constantly changing as they develop.
Being obese in childhood and youth can cause pain and joint problems, which may persist into adulthood.
For this reason, we always advise you to carry out all the necessary analyzes, and consult your doctor, in case your children are overweight.
