Obesity & Weight Loss
Obesity & Weight Loss
Definition of Overweight, Obesity and BMI
Overweight is generally defined as having more body fat than is optimally healthy.
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a simple index of weight for height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults. To determine your BMI, divide your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters.
Based on Asia-Pacific BMI standards, it defines people as overweight (pre-obese) when their BMI is between 23 kg/m2 and 24.9 kg/m2, and obese when it is 25 kg/m2 or greater.
Your Goal Weight
"With the Cohen Program, we will help you identify your personal goal weight. This is the healthy weight range that Dr. Cohen recommends based on your gender, age, height and shoe size profile.
Dr. Cohen believes that an individual's metabolic equilibrium, or that state at which your body is most efficient in converting food as energy, lies within this range."
Health Implications
Excessive body weight is associated with various diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus type 2, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, osteoarthritis and asthma. As a result, obesity has been found to reduce life expectancy.
Health Benefits of Weight Loss
Numerous health articles have been written about the various benefits of weight loss. Below are few examples of how a 10 kg weight loss can have a significant positive impact on one’s condition:
- Diabetes – 50% fall in fasting glucose
- Blood Pressure – 10mmHg fall in Systolic BP and 20mmHg fall in Diastolic BP
- Blood Lipids – 10% fall in total cholesterol; 15% fall in LDL; 30% fall in triglycerides; 8% increase in HDL
- Blood Clotting Indices – reduced red cell aggregability; improved fibrinolytic capacity
- Physical Complications – reduced back and joint pain; improved lung function; reduced breathlessness; reduced frequency of sleep apnea
- Mortality – >20% fall in total mortality; >30% fall in diabetes-related deaths; fall in obesity-related cancer deaths
