Body Mass Index is a value acquired from the mass and height of a person. It is determined as the body weight in kilograms divided by your height in meter squared. BMI is important because in getting your BMI you can prevent yourself from diseases associated with high BMI as well as low BMI. Keep reading to know more about how important is your BMI.
It Can Help You Maintain Healthy Weight
Having too much fat is called obesity, being obese can put you in a lot of health risk. But there are a lot of methods available to monitor your weight to avoid obesity, one method is getting your Body Mass Index (BMI). This is a method mostly used by those in the medical field, according to WHO (World Health Organization). You can easily do the calculation yourself using a BMI Calculator, you just have to get your body weight in kilograms then divide it into your height in meter squared. Remember that to monitor the weight you have to know first the ratio in which you should fall into.
Normal Weight
For you to be considered having a normal weight your BMI should be between 18.5 and 25.
Overweight
A person having a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight.
Obese
If you have a BMI of 30 and above then you are obese.
It is important to monitor your weight, having a normal weight might not always mean you are healthy but it is a way of getting ahead in avoiding health issues.
It Evaluates Underlying Health Issues
It is established that the higher your BMI, the higher your danger of having chronic diseases. In evaluating your weight and health risk you have to consider 3 things to measure, your BMI, waist circumference, and risk factors for conditions associated with obesity.
Body mass index
It helps you screen if you are overweight or obese. Use the BMI table for comparison.
Waist circumference
If your body fat is concentrated around your waist rather than your hips, it might be that you have a risk of heart problem and type 2 diabetes (type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. It’s a disease that you get when you have a high blood sugar this happens when your body doesn’t make enough insulin or doesn’t use insulin well) remember that there is a greater risk for women having 35 inches of the waistline and 40 inches for men.
Risk factors with people with obesity
Your doctor bases your health according to your BMI. Being overweight can lead to a lot of possible diseases like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart issues, cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal diseases. There are also risk factors associated with being underweight like malnutrition, osteoporosis, and anemia. BMI is a functional evaluation of health risk for people to determine what disease you may be facing.
BMI is Important in Surgery
There is a much higher risk of surgical and anesthetic if you have a high BMI. Obesity can make surgery more complicated, it can put you at risk for certain complications and effects. One of the biggest problems with being overweight is that it makes you more able to have a condition called sleep apnea. This is where you stop breathing while you are sleeping and it will certainly put your life in danger while you are in surgery. There are other medical challenges involved in surgery if you are overweight such as:
1. Computing the right doses of medicine to give you, doctors must give you additional doses of medicine and anesthesia since you have a heavier BMI.
2. Ensure enough oxygen to give you, if you have a High BMI your heart will do extra work to pump blood to your whole body thus making your body use more rapidly. And since you are under anesthesia, it will be harmful to you.
3. You’ll have breathing problems. Because of the fats around your neck.
There is a lot more complication you can experience during and after your surgery that is why you need to improve your health before surgery to lessen the danger and also for you to have a much faster recovery.
Your BMI is so much more important than you think it is. Knowing when it is higher or lower can prevent you from many health issues. It is important that even when you are not in the hospital you know how to get and compute your own BMI.