Being overweight, eating poorly, and being physically inactive all increase your risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some forms of cancer. Other factors affecting your disease risk include your family and medical history, and lifestyle factors such as whether you smoke or drink too much alcohol.

If you are overweight, losing just five to 10 percent of your weight and keeping it off lowers your risk for developing most of these diseases. For example, an overweight 200-pound person who loses 10 to 20 pounds may reduce risk for disease and improve health problems, such as high blood pre s s u re or high blood cholesterol. Adopting more healthful eating habits and daily physical activity can better your health, even if you don’t lose weight.

The number you see on the scale doesn’t necessarily tell you whether you need to lose weight. That’s because two people of the same height and weight can have different bone structures and carry different
amounts of muscle and body fat. For most adults, determining your Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist size are reliable ways to tell whether you are overweight and to estimate your risk for health problems.

BMI of at least 25 indicates overweight. A BMI of 30 or more indicates you are obese. Generally, the higher your BMI, the higher your weight risk. Your waist size indicates whether yo u have an “apple” shape and tend to carry fat around your midsection. Your health risks increase even further with increasing waist size. A waist measure ment g reater than 40 inches for men or 35 inches for women indicates a significant increase in health risk. To tell whether your weight is a health risk, locate your BMI in the “ Find Your BMI” chart on the facing page.

Then, measure your waist at the point below your ribcage but above your navel. Use your BMI and waist size to determine your risk using the Weighing Your Risk chart.