What are the risks to my health from being overweight?

Weighing too much may increase your risk for developing many health problems. If you are overweight or obese, you may be at risk for:

• type 2 diabetes
• coronary heart disease and stroke
• metabolic syndrome
• certain types of cancer
• sleep apnea
• osteoarthritis
• gallbladder disease
• fatty liver disease
• pregnancy complications

You may be able to lower your health risks by losing weight, doing regular physical activity, and eating healthfully.

Body Mass Index  -- Body Mass Index Table

Body mass index (BMI) is a tool that is often used to determine whether a person’s health is at risk due to his or her weight. BMI is a ratio of your weight to your height. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered healthy; a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight; and a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese.

You can use the table at the bottom of this page to determine your BMI.

Source: Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, September 1998.

* Without Shoes
**Without Clothes

Waist Circumference

Another way to determine if your weight is placing your health at risk is to measure your waist. Waist measurement does not determine if you are overweight, but it does indicate if you have excess fat in your abdomen. This is important because extra fat around your waist may increase health risks even more than fat elsewhere on your body.

Women with a waist measurement of more than 35 inches and men with a waist measurement of more than 40 inches may have an increased risk for obesity-related diseases.

 click here to see Body Mass Index Table

John & Lana Leslie are partners and franchise owners with Unicity International. Lana's MBA and corporate sales background gives her a solid footing to handle networking and leadership. John owned his own fitness studio and brings knowledge of health, fitness and nutrition making the pair very resourceful in providing support to their downline team members.