The UK has more obese women that any other country in Europe. Indeed nearly a quarter of them are obese according to the latest scare statisitics.
A person is defined as obese if their body mass index (BMI), which is calculated by dividing body weight by body height squared, is 30 or above.
And he or she is classed as overweight if their BMI is between 25 and 30.
Well, one has to wonder who they weighed and measured to reach these figures, but to use the BMI which is, frankly, holed below the waterline as a measure tells us that we should be taking the whole thing with a pinch of salt.
The BMI correlates fairly well with body fat.
No, it doesn’t. It correlates with body mass you know, the body mass index. Mass could be fat or it could be muscle and bone. A BMI reading will not differentiate.
Although it isn’t on this page, on the main page of the BBC’s website, the link to this story has this little snippet below it:
Non-smoking women are more likely to be obese and die of its associated illnesses than those who smoke, research suggests.
I’m not sure where that one came from as I can’t find it mentioned anywhere else. Are they sure they want to say that? Really? Someone’s for the high jump…
Last month, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley launched a bid to reduce obesity levels in England by 2020.
The minister said people need to be honest with themselves about how much they eat and drink.
He said that, overall, Britons should be eating five billion fewer calories a day than at present.
With all due respect, minister (i.e. none at all), what we eat and drink is none of your concern. There is no “should” about it. I will eat and drink precisely what pleases me whether it is approved by ministers and the various fake charities and single issue lobby groups or not.
It really is a stupid article. Living in Spain for all these years, I am absolutely certain that there are just as many fat women here too (despite the so-called healthy med diet).
The BMI is far worse than that.
If two three dimensional bodies are of the same shape and density, then their mass is proportional to the cube of their height, not the square.
Because the BMI assumes prortionality with the square (which would be correct for a two dimensional body, say a sheet of steel) the BMI shows a tall person as fatter than a short person, even when both are of the same proportions. People have got taller over the generations- which explains at least some of the increase in obesity as measured by BMI.
Non-smoking women are ‘more likely to suffer from obesity’
“Scottish study finds that declining numbers of female smokers may have led to rising weight problems and associated illnesses.
Women who have never smoked face a higher risk of obesity than those who light up, according to a new study.
Experts believe declining numbers of female smokers over the past few decades may have had a direct impact on rising weight problems as fewer people suppress their appetites with cigarettes.
And piling on the pounds can lead to health problems including diabetes, heart attacks and strokes.”
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/260506-non-smoking-women-are-more-likely-to-suffer-from-obesity/