Port Moresby Medical Laboratories (POMMEDLAB)

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Question 1. What is Ideal Body Weight?

Ideal body weight refers to accepted ranges of individual weights as normal compared to a reference population. Ideal body weighted is measured in terms of Body Mass Index (BMI).  The body mass index (BMI), is a statistical measurement which compares a person's weight and height.

 

Though it does not actually measure the percentage of body fat, it is a useful tool to estimate a healthy body weight based on how tall a person is. Due to its ease of measurement and calculation, it is the most widely used diagnostic tool to identify obesity problems within a population. BMI provides a simple numeric measure of a person's "fatness" or "thinness", allowing health professionals to discuss over- and under-weight problems more objectively with their patients.

 

 For adolescents (less than 18 year old ) or children, this calculator uses "BMI for Age", because "normal" varies with age. That's why this BMI calculator also shows percentile statistics, so you can compare your weight to others of the same age and height. Also, these height and weight charts and BMI charts show what the average population is like.

Question 2. How Is BMI Measured?

BMI is defined as the individual's body weight divided by the square of their height. The formulas universally used in medicine produce a unit of measure of kg/M²: i.e., BMI= WEIGHT/HEIGHT²

Question 3. Am I Overweight?

Question 4. Why should I worry about my weight?

Over-weight and obesity increases your risk dying from complications of heart attack, strokes, hypertension, blood vessel disease, diabetes and kidney diseases. Incidences of other disorders such as Ifertility, poor sexual function, depression and low self-esteem is also associated with over-weight.

Question 6. What are the Treatment options?

 Lifestyle changes

No matter what weight management option you choose, to lose weight and keep it off successfully, you will need to change your lifestyle by eating less, eating healthily and exercising.

Oral treatments

Doctors can prescribe various prescription and over the counter (OTC) weight loss medications for those who have tried to change their lifestyle and still find it hard to lose weight and also for individuals with health risks due to obesity.

Medications for weight management are classified as the following:

                 -Appetite Suppressants-Suppresses appetite i.e. reduces desire to eat

                 -Fat Absorption Reducers-Lowers fat absorption from food

                 -Satiety Enhancers-Prevents overeating by helping users feel full sooner with less food

Surgical treatments –reserved for the most severely obese people with BMI measurements above 37.5kg/m2, and 32.5kg/m2

                 -Laparoscopic Adjustment Gastric Band (Lapband)

-Gastric Bypass-The stomach is made smaller by creating a small pouch at the top using surgical staples or a plastic band

-Intragastric Balloon (non-surgical treatment)-A soft expandable silicone balloon is inserted through the mouth later inflated with saline. The balloon is removed and replaced every 6 months

Question 7. How long does the testing take?

Anthropometric measurements take about 5-10minutes.

Question 5. What are the causes of Obesity?

 While many factors may influence an individual's weight, overweight and obesity is due mainly to an imbalance of energy intake from the diet and energy expenditure through physical activity. Genetic and environmental factors play a role, but attention to diet and physical activity is important not only for preventing weight gain, but also for weight loss and subsequent maintenance.

Rarely overweight is caused by specific diseases such as Cushing’s Syndrome and hypothyroid.

The international standard accepted by WHO as  "overweight" is as a BMI value between 25 and 29.9 and "obesity" is a BMI value greater than or equal to 30. 

 

If your BMI  is between 17 to 22, your life span might be longer than average.  Men are usually satisfied with a BMI of 23 to 25 and women tend to believe they look their best at values between 20 to 22.

 

If your BMI is between 23 and 25, most people wouldn't consider you to be overweight.  If your BMI  is 26 or more, you are considered overweight and are statistically likely to have a lower life expectancy.

 

However, the more accurate measure weight-related risk of CVD are waist to hip ratio, skin-fold thickness, and abdominal fat, often referred to as anthropometric measurements. Waist to hip ratio of more than 0.9 in men and 1 in women and hip skin fold thickness of more than 22mm is associated with increased risk of  CVD. At POMMEDLAB, we measure BMI, waist to hip ration and skin fold thickness to provide  you with your estimated risk of CVD.