YOUR WEIGHT'S WORTH

You wake up early in the morning, maybe just to pray fajr, and you find that your whole body seems to be heavily leaded. It’s a struggle to make a move from the bed, but you slug it out anyway...like you always do.

Then you get to the office complex, your office is situated on the 3^rd floor and the lifts refuse to work this morning. Your only alternative is to take the stairs, and my-o-my, does it seem like they added just a few more flights to them this morning. You can’t wait to get in and sit down…you’re breathing heavily, almost hyper-ventilating. Typical story of our normal life.

Healthy living is something we find fun talking about but rarely do much about. We eat, we work and that’s about how far we think living healthily is.

There is so much more beneath and MICA Floor last Sunday had Dr. Halima Alimi, explore the value of weight and how much we really are living healthy.

Ever wondered why it’s so easy to put on those weight (and we’re not talking about the genetically-destined-to-be-slim people) and how so difficult it is to lose the excess baggage.

Well let’s see just how much there is to weigh.

Experts say …Too little and you’re under weight.

Just right, you’re optimal weight

A little too much, overweight

Way too much, you’re obese/ morbidly obese.

You probably want to go check the scale right now, but hold on a minute. Checking how just right you are…weight-wise has little do with the Kg you see on that scale, but we’ll get to that in a short while.

But really what’s all the fuss about the weight and scales and healthy living.

According to Dr. Alimi, a lot of us “particularly the women” think that so long as we are of free of disease and can carry whatever we weigh, then we’re just ok. Unfortunately not!

She says that our weight directly impacts on our state of well-being, consciously or unconsciously.

Our weight can either be an asset or a problem and depending on how much we care, it’s just about what we really worth.

So what’s your weight worth to you…how much do you really give it any thought?

Recent researches, says Dr. Alimi, show that the 21^st century has been characterized by a global obesity pandemic; a problem, not peculiar to just well-fed, developed countries but also persistent in under-developed, malnourished countries.

Globally as at 2008, 2 billion adults overweight or obese and at least 20 million children obese.

In the USA, alone, nearly 66% of adults overweight or obese and this is projected to increase to 86% by 2030. Current prevalence amongst the females is 45%; 15% of children and adolescents and 10% of pre-schoolers.

So perhaps you’re starting to think…oh, that the USA, they have money and way developed than my country. Yeah, may be so, but no, you’re wrong it’s not just the USA affected with this syndrome.

Overweight and obesity is a new trend in hitherto poor countries with emerging economies. For example, South Africa (especially the blacks), Egypt, Mexico, China and India have more overweight individuals.

In China, the overweight and obesity syndrome tripled amongst men and doubled in women in the last 11 years. Currently, 25% are overweight or obese.

India has 45% of the under five year old(5yrs) malnourished YET almost 50% of their 250million adolescents are over-weight or obese and 60%of the women have abdominal obesity.

The stats are frightening and if you’re not scared yet, see for Nigeria.

—  2002. Jos. Urban Dwellers. Male 21.4%, females 23.5%.

—  2007. Osun. <5yrs children 18.9%

—  2007. Eti-Osa LG. Sec Schchildren 4.1%

—  2009. Zaria. Civil Servants. Male 13.5%. Female 16.1%.

—  2009. Akwa Ibom. Nurses. 62.2%

So now, how do you feel about that? Scared or Smiling? Feeling you’re not part of that stats, let get to know how to calculate the right weight using the Body Mass Index (BMI)

BMI or Quetelet index, is a heuristic proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height.

It is calculated by:

BMI = Wt(Kg)/  height squared

Index ratio below:

Category	BMI range – kg/m2
Severely underweight	less than 16.0
Underweight	from 16.0 to 20.0
Normal	from 20 to 25
Overweight	from 25 to 30
Obese Class I	from 30 to 35
Obese Class II	from 35 to 40
Obese Class III	over 40

For example:

Weight = 70kg

Height = 1.6m

BMI =      70           

               1.6X1.6

         =   70

            2.56 

      =27.3 = Overweight.

Before you get the scales and meter-rule out, hold on, here are a few drawbacks associated with using BMI, though it is acknowledged and used worldwide. A frequent use of the BMI is to assess how much an individual's body weight departs from what is normal or desirable for a person of his or her height.

The drawbacks are…

—  Does not take into account differences in frame size and muscularity.

—  Does not take into account differences in body composition with respect to race/ethnicity, gender and changes across lifespan.

Here are few modifications taking into account the bone-mineral content (i.e. Being Bone-Big) and race.

Females                                                               Obese index

ü  African-American                            greater than 32

ü  Non-Hispanic Whites                    greater than 30

ü  South-East  Asians                           greater than 27

Well, enough of the techno-jargons and back to “OBESITY”.

So why/ how do people get obese.

Have you ever wondered why it seems you do so much work yet loose so little of what we have amassed in weight gain?

As Dr.Alimi explained that the Energy input/ output ratio is responsible for this.

According to her, for an overweight individual, the amount of food taken is more than the activity we actually engage in. Most people burn less calories doing whatever it is they do on a daily basis when compared to how much food they actually eat. The remaining calories through the body system are converted to fat and hence, obesity starts.

The second most popular factor is our dietary habit. Here we talk about the imbalanced and improper food type we eat as opposed to how many times we take them. It’s not about the quantity of the food but the quality of it.

Seriously, check out how often you take rice, eba, meat pie, rolls e.t.c as compared to how often you take vegetables, fibre-rich foods and fruits.

We are so used to high calorie…high fat…high sugar and salt and low fibre diets.

Take a break and ponder, just when you unconsciously reach for a bottle of water when a bottle of coke is right next to it.

The third most persistent factor contributing to obesity is the tendency to sedentary life. Our life-style has so dramatically been over-mechanized that every little task has a machine that can do same or better (no pun intended). We drive instead of walking, we e-mail instead of visiting, we take the lift instead of climbing the stairs…we eat “poundo-yam instead of pounded yam (every pun intended).

And no matter how much we complain about the economy, between 1970 and 2004, there was a global decline of food prices resulting in 300% increase in the per capita consumption of meat, eggs and vegetable oil. And this is mostly in the developing countries.

So here is what Dr. Alimi says…

v  We eat more processed foods e.g. poundo-yam

v  We eat more fast foods (Laden With Bad Fat And High In Salt And Sugar)

v  We take more CARBONATED DRINKS!

v  We indulge our Children with chocolates, popcorn, cakes, ice cream, biscuits, chinchin, cheese balls, etc 

When growing up, these things were considered as treat (especially after good behavior or during festive seasons) not the norm of diet.

v  Vegetables no longer a standard part of diet.

v  We take little less water. Standard average is 3litres in 24hrs.

v  We take too much salt and too much oil

v  We have mechanized just about everything… work, transport and domestic life. There are Cars, lifts, tractors and harvesters, caterpillars, mixers, lawn mowers, electric saws etc.

So may be these things save us more time and energy but they also gain us more weight literally.

And these are the consequences we face:

v  Hypertension

v  Diabetes type2

v  Heart disease: 10x more likely to have hardened arteries leading to coronary artery disease which can cause chest pain, heart attack or stroke.

v  Joint disease (osteoarthritis)

v  Respiratory (breathing) problems: sleep apnea,. Heavy snoring.

v  Fatty liver disease

Gall stones

Heart Disease

v  Gall stones

v  Cancer: obesity increases risk for:

o   FEMALES – breast, colon, gall bladder, uterus

o   MALES – colon, prostate.

So we’ve talked about the most important effects, the medical, how about the psycho-social effect of obesity.

No matter how much we deny, argue the case, fight against the discriminations, the reality is fat people are treated differently and with less respect.

Try taking a commercial bus with a fat person…and we mean really fat person, the bench that would conveniently seat three will inconveniently seat four and you will grumble…that is the fact!

Obese individual also experience blame and low self-esteem, they rarely take responsibility for their lives and let other people treat them as they see them…lazy and weak-willed. There’s always a self-consciousness about the way they interact with other people. And more unfortunately, they face unemployment difficulties.

Relationship issues? Ask the fat women!

Double-standard it may be, the fat woman knows she has more challenge getting and/ or keeping a spouse than the average fat man.

Your weight (and we’re talking about being over-weight) affects everything about you, says Dr.Alimi.

—  Energy level:

*Work: reduced efficiency

*Home: kids, domestic chores, spouse

—  The economy:

*¯productivity: ¯earnings

*­Govt spending: China- 5% of GNP on direct % indirect cost related to poor health from obesity. USA- 17 – 20%

REMEDY! REMEDY!!!...you ask?

The best remedy they say for combating HIV/AIDS is Abstinence; the best remedy for obesity is LIFE STYLE CHANGE!!!

And this includes:

v  Your diet!  “YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT”

 Eat a healthy diet.

§  Rich in vitamins and minerals – fresh fruits, veges (raw preferable to cooked)

§  Low in fat- more of plant-origin fats(good fats) and fish. Boil, poach, steam, grill foods rather than fry.

§  Low in refined sugar: reduce sugar, cakes, pastries, chocolates, icecream.

§  High in fibre: fruits and veges, wheat or all-bran bread.

§  Low calories

§  Low in sodium: reduce salt intake

§  Adequate daily water intake: 3litres in 24hrs

And Exercise!..oh my gosh!

We spend so little or no time exercising. Your working around your home or office does not count. You have to take conscious effort to relieve the stress and strains in your muscles and get rid of those excess calories. You do this by taking the time out to actually twist, turn stretch and basically get the blood pumping through your whole system.

Check out the benefits Dr. Alimi listed

Ø  Helps weight loss  physical fitness

Ø  -positively influences the control of diseases eg hypertension, diabetes, depression, sleeplessness.

Ø  -Boosts mental alertness and self-esteem.

Ø  -Improves endurance

Start with 5mins but ideally, at least 30mins of moderate activity on a daily basis.

*Fast walking, jogging, running, riding, swimming

*skipping, aerobics at home or gym

*thread mill, elliptical trainer.

ENCOURAGE THE CHILDREN ALONG!

Here’s what the world health organization says about exercise and dieting…

  “80% of chronic heart diseases, 90% of type2 diabetes and 33% of cancers can be avoided by switching to a healthier diet, increasing exercise and stopping smoking.”(WHO  Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health.)

Many countries are adopting ways of helping their citizens live a healthy life style

Take for example the USA – 5-a-day – the colour way (5, different fruits in different colours a day)

UK – Change for life campaign:*eat well *move more *live longer

Singapore – Holistic health (trim and fit)programme .

India – Campaign to dump soda, fatty food, and fried, high salt and sugar foods.

Nigeria – Efforts (if any!) are more towards under-nutrition!

So break out in sweat and get the blood pumping.

Start this life style gradually, consistently and simply like…

—  Halve: soft drinks, pastries, salt, oil in food, sugar (in tea, coffee, cereals, pap etc).

—  Eat at least 2 fruit servings per day.

—  Eat at least 1 veg serving per day.

—  Eat less meat; “too much consumption of meat hardens the heart-Rasul (SAW)”

—  Drink at least 2litres of water daily. (Think, drink!)

—  Stay away from alcohol and smoking.

—  Check your cholesterol level

We at MICA say your weight’s worth is your life’s worth…so what’s your weight worth?

Remember; “the strong believer is better than the weak one.”- Rasul (peace be upon him)!