What’s the difference between obese, overweight?

On the cover of nearly every magazine are headlines telling people how to lose weight, but many still are unsure if they need to do so in the first place.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control recommends using the Body Mass Index as one way to determine if a person’s weight falls into an acceptable range.

According to the CDC Web site, “calculating BMI is one of the best methods for population assessment of overweight and obesity.” The organization says the measurement method works so well in part because of the availability of calculations.

Dr. David Rodriguez, a family medicine practitioner at the Lake City Medical Clinic and an on-staff physician at Carolinas Hospital System, said measuring BMI is something most people can easily do without any added equipment.

“It’s just a calculated number based on your height and weight,” he said.

By using the BMI calculations, a person can determine if he or she is average sized, overweight or obese.

Lisa Tolbert, a certified personal trainer and fitness specialist at McLeod Health & Fitness Center, said the American College of Sports Medicine uses the BMI to rate the levels of obesity in Americans.

“Their description of body mass, the way you calculate it, is to divide your body weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared,” she said.

But since the metric system is not commonly used in the United State, Tolbert said to take a person’s body weight and multiply it by 703. Then, divide that number by the person’s height in inches squared.

Tolbert said a normal BMI falls within the range of 18.5 to 24.9, while an overweight BMI is anywhere between 25 to 29.9.

“At that range, there is an increased risk for conditions such as hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes,” she said.

Rodriguez said when a person’s BMI goes into the obesity category, which is anything over 30, a number of problems can result.

“They’ve taken (a look) at several things over the years and if your BMI is over 30, that’s associated with a lot more health risks than a BMI under 30,” he said. “Usually, when you get into the category of obesity, you start to develop an increased risk of developing heart disease and diabetes and it’s the complications from those that give you the increased health risk.”

Rodriguez said a BMI indicating obesity can make it hard to perform surgery on a patient, as well.

Tolbert said making changes today could prevent a high BMI tomorrow.

“We always want to recommend that people make modifications in their lifestyle choices,” she said. “The first thing we recommend is cardiovascular activity. We want to get them moving to get their heart and lungs involved.”

On the Web

Centers for Disease Prevention and Control: http://www.cdc.gov