As a society, we are constantly bombarded with weight loss ads, photoshopped images and impossible goals put forth by the latest fitness magazine. All of these messages make it hard to know if you are at a healthy weight and whether or not you should continue your current diet and exercise routine. When looking at “healthy” weight information, I came across two ways to calculate healthy weight levels, the Body Mass Index (BMI) and A Body Shape Index (ABSI). BMI uses your height and weight to calculate your BMI level whereas the ABSI uses height, weight and waist circumference into account. I turned to Justanswer to see if a Medical Expert could help clarify which tool is more reliable.
Dr. German,had the following to say.
“As it currently stands ABSI is a better tool to know if your weight is at a proper level, the main reason for this is that the ABSI combines the BMI measures and waist circumference measures. Waist circumference is extremely important, because the fat tissue around your waistline or abdominal obesity, increases the probability of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and even certain types of cancer.”
Calculate your ABSI here.
When looking at your results you want to see your ABSI Relative Risk Number at 1 or less. If your number is above 1, it means your risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, and/or diabetes is increased. Focusing on weight loss is a good idea for anyone with a number above 1.
Calculate your BMI here.
A healthy BMI result is between 20 and 25. The BMI calculator above does state that using this tool is “only one of many possible ways to assess your weight” and these calculations “use total body weight and not estimates of lean muscle mass and fat” which limits the calculators ability to determine whether a person is overweight versus muscular.
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