April 2025 Retirement Sparks
We’re used to hearing the medical
community talk about our BMI (Body Mass Index) as a way to determine if we’re
obese. The BMI uses body fat
to measure body mass, which has long been the standard way to decide if someone
is obese. A BMI of 40 or over gets you labeled clinically obese; 25-40 makes
you pre-clinical. Good news! You can now forget about your BMI. There are other
things to worry about regarding whether you are unhealthy. Weight, measurements
and ratios are just some of them. This could get complicated, so you should
probably take notes.
Medical journals report that if a woman’s waist is more
than 34.6 inches or a man’s is at least 40 inches, they most likely have too much
fat. Other measures used are waist-to-hip ratios and waist-to-height
ratios. The latest articles on this subject tell us that many
medical professionals now recommend tracking adiposity, or the accumulation of
body fat, along with height, weight, blood pressure and other key metrics as a
more accurate way of capturing health than BMI. Track adiposity? I can barely
pronounce it, much less know exactly what it means. Doctor Leana Wen wrote an article
on this in March 2025.
Even if you have a
lower BMI, many doctors suggest getting a body composition scan like a DEXA
(dual X-ray absorptiometry). The Lancet
Diabetes & Endocrinology journal once recommended focusing on 18 medical
conditions caused by obesity such as the usual pains and poorly functioning
organs. At my age I have enough lists to keep track of without adding a list of
medical conditions that I should be keeping track of. I certainly can’t be
expected to remember what a DEXA is unless I write it down in my day planner. And
what am I supposed to do with this scan once I have it?
I have a simpler way for you to
decide if you’re too fat. But first, some back story. In 2011 I blogged about a
report that fat is good sometimes. The
study was conducted by a team of mostly Canadian scientists and used the
more comprehensive Edmonton
Obesity Staging System (EOSS) which was published in the journal Applied
Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism. It showed that under
certain conditions, people who are obese are actually less likely to die of
cardiovascular causes than skinny folks.
To qualify for the
study, the chubby folks had to have been less obsessed with losing weight than
the lean folks. That is, they would have tried less often throughout their
lives to lose weight. The pleasingly plump also had to have no serious
“physical, psychological or physiological impairments.” (I’d love to know how
that was judged in 2011.)
Apparently, being content with ones body, even if it was
carrying a few more pounds than ideal, meant that these subjects were likely to
have a healthy lifestyle. That translated into being physically active and
eating healthy food. (And I’d definitely like to know how those criteria were decided
on.)
The EOSS classified
but the report did not itemize five stages of obesity. I’ve developed my own
system to determine obesity levels. First you need to answer these questions.
The more questions you say ‘yes’ to, the higher the stage you’re in.
·
Did everyone pinch your cheeks when you
were a baby?
·
Is there any part of you that doesn’t
shake when you walk?
·
Do your friends ask you if you forget
your Spanx, or if that’s a seriously out of control muffin top?
·
Does your muffin top have love handles?
·
Do your love handles have muffin tops?
·
When you’re taking group photos, do you
look for someone even fatter than you are to sit next to? (Especially useful at
class reunions.)
If you answered ‘yes’
to at least three of these, you should move on to my acid test for the highest
stage of obesity. Or, you can go straight to this test without even answering
the questions.
You fill a bathtub to
the brim with water and plop your body into it. If the water that overflows
takes more rolls of paper towels to mop it up than you got on sale at Costco
last month, you’re probably clinically obese.
My acid test is much easier than
trying to understand all the medical jargon and tests. You can thank me after
you’ve finished mopping up.
Copyright 2025 Business Theatre Unlimited
