What is a normal weight? Most often it is associated with external attractiveness, but we must not forget that the optimal body weight is also the prevention of many diseases.
Normal weight in women
Most modern people, especially young people, have a very distorted concept of how a woman's weight should be. The existing aesthetic standards of the female body, in fact, have nothing to do with either health or medical standards.
What should be the normal weight of a woman? The fair sex, which 50 years ago would be considered normal and even thin, is today considered, to put it mildly, plump.
About 30 years ago, normal body weight was calculated by the formula "growth minus one hundred." Later, the formula appeared "growth minus one hundred and ten." Today, more and more often, in various sources there is a rule for calculating the weight of women - "growth minus one hundred and twenty." Modern women are imposed not just harmony, but unhealthy thinness, which often leads to menstrual irregularities and the inability to conceive a child.
And what do doctors say about the optimal parameters of female weight? According to experts, the formula “growth minus one hundred” is not accurate, because it does not take into account growth, age, width and weight of bones, muscle volume, amount of fat deposits, type of addition. With this calculation, the error can be 5-7 kg.
There are other ways to find out your ideal weight. Many more trust in such an indicator as the width of the fat folds on the stomach, which is captured vertically at the level of the navel. If this parameter is from 2-4 cm, then the woman has a normal weight.
The formula “weight minus one hundred and ten” cannot be called correct. This option for calculating normal weight is not suitable for people below average height. For example, a short girl who does not have excess fat will weigh more than the result.
To determine whether a woman is of normal weight, you can use the body mass index. To find out its value, you need to divide the weight in kilograms by the height in meters squared. If the result is less than 15, then there is an acute lack of body weight. With a value of 15 to 18, we can talk about weight deficiency. The best option is observed with a value from 20 to 25. Weight is considered excessive if this indicator is 25-30. An index above 30 indicates obesity.
There are special scales with which you can find out how many percent in the body is fat. A woman's weight is considered normal if this value is 18-25%.
Normal weight in men
How to determine the normal weight of a man? As with women, this can be done by the width of the fat folds on the stomach. The norm for the stronger sex is different from the female one and is 1-2 cm.
The formula “growth minus one hundred” is not always true for men. Most men, whose weight matters, look skinny and can be considered normal. Athletes who do not have excess fat and look fit, weigh 10-15 pounds more than unsportsmanlike men of the same height with a body weight of "growth minus one hundred." Athletes with developed muscles sometimes weigh no less than men with obvious body fat, because muscles are heavier than fat.
If you evaluate the weight of a man by the mass index, then the normal weight will correspond to values in the range from 20 to 25. Obesity starts at 30.
The formulas that today determine the normal weight of both men and women cannot take into account many factors, so the results can not be considered accurate. Such calculations are completely unsuitable for people of advanced age categories. To assess weight, doctors suggest measuring the waist circumference. For men, this figure should not exceed 95 cm, for women - 80 cm.