4 Understanding Your Weight and Its Impact
Weight matters to people for many different
reasons. The most important reason weight
matters is how it affects your health. To better
understand the different ways weight impacts
your health, you need to understand what
weight is. As discussed on the Your Weight
Matters website, there are five weight
categories. Knowing which category your
weight falls in is based on your body mass
index (BMI) and will be important when you
meet with your healthcare provider. If you need
to calculate your BMI, please see the BMI chart
on pages 16-17 of this brochure.
Weight – Why
Does It Matter?
Healthy
Weight Overweight Obesity
Severe
Obesity
Weight
and Health
Under
Weight
<18.5 18.5-24.9 25.0-29.9 30.0-39.9 >40
Excess weight strains your whole body. Being
impacted by excess weight is a health concern.
It can lead to other health problems including
obesity. More than 50 health problems are
linked to having obesity. These health
problems are diseases and conditions that
decrease your quality of life and include type
2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, sleep
apnea, osteoarthritis and many others.
The more weight you carry, the more likely
you are to develop related health problems.
Finding and treating health conditions early
is best for your overall health.
Weight-loss as small as 5-10 percent can
reduce the effects of having excess weight.
www.YourWeightMatters.org
/www.YourWeightMatters.org