Overweight
How do you know if you are overweight?
There are many different factors that may determine
our body weight. These may include extrinsic factors
such as the types and amounts of food we eat and
the amount of exercise we get. It may also include
intrinsic factors such as our body chemistry and
the way in which it deals with food the we consume.
This section will provide you with some information
to check to see whether you may be overweight. We
will look at four key areas :
a) weight measurement
b) Calculation of Body Mass Index
c) Measurement of body fat
d) Determination of Fat Distribution
Weight Measurement
Lets get the terminology sorted out!
What is fat? Fat is also called
lipid and the body contains different types of lipids.
They are made up of triglycerides (a backbone of
three units ) which may be saturated or unsaturated.
Saturated fats are found in products such as butter,
cream and other dairy products, unsaturated fats
are found in plant and fish oils. Needless to say
too much saturated fat is not good for you!
What’s a calorie? The technical
definition of a calorie is the amount of energy
required to raise the temperature of one gram of
water by one degree Centigrade. For the purposes
of this article lets a calorie is a unit of energy.
What’s a joules? A joule is a
unit of energy equivalent to about 4 calories.
Weight measurements. We normally weigh ourselves
in kilograms and grams or in stones and pounds.
1 kilogram is equal to 2.2 pounds
14 pounds is equal to one stone
6.36 kilograms is equal to one stone
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