The Difference between Healthy Weight and Attractive Weight

Society seems to have clear definitions about what the ideal woman and man look like, and those definitions translate into a body weight that supports that ideal. The fact, how-ever, is that the ideal weight according to society’s definition of what is attrac- tive is not necessarily healthy for most people.  And  surprisingly, the  gap between attractive and healthy is often reversed for men and women.

Today’s women often feel that they need to be extraordinarily  thin. The icons of beauty that they are exposed

to daily, such as top fashion models and Hollywood celebrities, tend to

be underweight by medical standards. Conversely, men are likely to see their ideal body as big and broad, like that of a linebacker. The real- ity is that the body weights that support both the male and the female points of view are not particularly healthy. And that is unfortunate because weight is inextricably linked to health. For health’s sake, it’s important that both women and men understand that the weight at which health is optimized has little to do with these extreme ideals.

BMI (body mass index) is the globally accepted standard used to classify weight status. Generally, people fall into one of four categories based on their BMI: underweight, which is associated with some health risks; healthy, the range at which health risks are minimized; over- weight, which corresponds to an increased risk of several diseases; and obese, the point at which health risks sharply rise as weight increases.

You can calculate BMI by plugging your body weight and height intoa BMI formula or by looking them up on a chart.

Weight Classifications and BMI Ranges

Underweight: BMI < 18.5

Healthy: BMI between 18.5 and 24.9

Overweight: BMI between

25 and 29.9

Obese: BMI of 30 or higher