Obesity Case

Many people weigh more than they should. Doctors call them overweight. When a person is extremely fat, doctors call the condition obesity. Anyone who is about 15 or more pounds heavier than his desirable weight is considered overweight. People who are more than 30 or 40 pounds heavier than they should be are considered obese.

Desirable weight is an individual thing. It may be described as the weight at which a person both looks and feels his best. Desirable weight also depends on a person's height, bone structure, and muscular development.

Because no two people are alike, weight tables cannot show with complete accuracy exactly what every individual should weigh. The tables shown here are given as a guide rather than as a rigid standard to which everyone should conform. They show desirable weights for men and women at age 25 and over. By this age, most people have stopped growing. After a person is fully grown and has reached his best weight, he should not gain or lose much for the rest of his life. It used to be considered inevitable and normal for people to get heavier toward middle age. Authorities know now that gaining weight is not a normal part of getting older. It is not healthful, and not necessary.

Children and young adults who are still growning rapidly cannot measure themselves accurately against a table of averages. Physical growth takes place at such widely different rates in different individuals that two healthy young persons, several years different in age, may measure the same in any one or more body dimension. For example, it is not unusual to find a boy of 10 and a boy 15 who weigh the same. Doctors generally agree that a simple record of height and weight should be kept for each child. Too great a gain in height or weight, or failure to gain, over a period of several months, is a signal to see a physician.

Overweight is a danger signal, particularly for those over 40 years of age. Studies of life- insurance figures show that overweight persons are more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other life- shortening conditions earlier, and to die younger, than persons whose weight is normal. Persons who are overweight make poor surgical risks, and have lowered resistance to infection.

Life is much easier in many ways for persons who are not too fat. They usually feel and look better. They are likely to live longer. They tend to suffer less from backaches, foot troubles, fatigue, and other discomforts. Normal weight is worth any effort it takes to reach and keep it- worth it in terms of everyday comfort and of a healthier, longer life.

Most people are fat simply because they eat too much. This does not necessarily mean that they stuff themselves with large quantities of food. It does mean that they take in more calories than their bodies can use. A calorie is a measure of the heat energy which the body can get from a certain amount of food. It is often surprisingly easy to take in too many calories, particularly for a person who