How To Determine Whether You Are Over Weight
The diagnosis of obesity is confirmed by the determination of too much fat. This can be measured in three ways.
The first is by the honest visual perspicacity of the individual. If an obese person suspects he is over fat, he need only take off his clothes, stand in front of a full-length mirror, and take a look—if he dares. Overweight people know they are fat. They do not need to be told by a doctor. No patient comes to my office and asks, “Should I lose weight, Doctor?”
They come in asking, “How much should I lose?” Insensitive indeed is the individual who cannot recognize a one-notch change in his belt, for better or for worse. Actually the waistline is a fairly accurate index of “ideal” weight.
More scientifically, obesity can be diagnosed by the “skin-fold” or “pinch” test. This test measures the amount of fat that exists beneath the skin and over the muscles. In everyone a layer of fat is blanketed between muscle and skin.
In addition to serving as a layer of insulation, fat also serves as a measure of obesity. To perform this test one grasps a pinch of skin between thumb and forefinger. What separates the fingers is skin on either side with fat in the middle. Muscle is not pinched up. This is done over the upper arm, upper chest, abdomen (while standing), buttocks, and calf. If more than one-half inch separates thumb and forefinger in one or more areas, then the patient has too much fat—and should reduce. This is a simple and accurate assessment of truly ideal weight.
A more reliable but less practical measurement is that of density or specific gravity. The more fat an individual carries
around, the more he weighs on land but the more he bobs to the surface when weighed under water. The reason is that fat is lighter than water and tends to rise, much as cream in a bottle of unhomogenized milk. Muscle is heavier than water and tends to sink. The more lean and well-knit an individual, the less he weighs dry, but the more he sinks to the bottom of a swimming pool. For instance, Mr. S. weighed 202 pounds on his bathroom scales. (He thought he weighed 202, but a somewhat protuberant abdomen obscured his view.) When he was weighed under water he registered a mere 9 pounds.
Having taken a brief, yet horrifying glance in the mirror and having viewed with dismay a bulbous and fatty front which had little if any sign of life or muscle tone, Mr. S. began to lose weight. He did this by diet and exercise. After several months passed by, he weighed a svelte 186 pounds on the bathroom scales. But a re weighing under water revealed an increase to 12 pounds. As contradictory as this may seem, Mr. S.’s increased submerged weight was a reflection of his increased body density, i.e., relation of lean muscle to fat. He had lost weight as fat.
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