Balanced Weight Management

Body weight doesn't tell much about health and fitness status. A crucial part of determining how much one should weigh has to do with what makes up that weight - a healthy ratio of muscle, bone, and fat.

Weight management means keeping your body weight at a healthy level. Obesity is a term used to describe body weight that is greater than what is considered healthy. Underweight is a term used to describe body weight that is lower than a healthy weight.

Causes - Obesity

• Sedentary lifestyle
• Genetic factors
• Weight cycling, caused by many attempts to lose weight by crash dieting
• Eating disorders/ Unhealthy eating
• Stress

Causes - Underweight

• Malnutrition
• Anorexia nervosa
• Tuberculosis
• Hyperthyroidism
• Type 1 Diabetes
• Excessive exercising

Risk factors associated with Obesity

• Type 2 diabetes
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• High cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia)
• Certain cancers (colon, prostate, breast)
• Osteoarthritis

Risk factors associated with Underweight

• Anemia and nutrient deficiencies
• Bone loss resulting in osteoporosis
• Heart irregularities and blood vessel diseases
• Amenorrhea (absence of menstruation in women)
• Increased vulnerability to infection and disease

Did you know?

Globally, there are more than 300 million obese individuals