My Ideal

I weigh 180 pounds. I'm five feet, eleven inches tall.ⁱ All the listings of ideal weight tell me that I'm overweight. At least I weigh more than is ideal. I know. I checked.ⁱⁱ The closest I could get (and it's top of the scale) is a little over 179 pounds, but that seems to be a minority opinion. Still, I feel fine.ⁱⁱⁱ

I don't know what triggered this revelation – this insight into my body mass. I always thought I was ideal but now I've been disabused of that illusion. Not that there aren't ways to deal with the problem. Like (ugh) dieting.

Instead I decided to convert.

No, not that way. My weight. It's 81.82 kilograms or 12.86 stones.^iv But it's still 180 pounds, and it's still more than ideal.

Wait. What does it all mean? With all the disagreement about what mine should be, I wonder if there is such a thing as “ideal” weight. And how is it determined. Even if there is such a thing, though, is it important?

According to The Fiscal Times of June 19, 2014

Until now, Americans have been losing the battle of the bulge. 

More than a third of all adults and 17 percent of young people are obese, according to the experts, and many of them have been consigned to troubled lives with obesity-related health problems such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, hypertension, arthritis and even cancer. Without major government and private intervention and a sea change in many Americans’ unhealthy eating habits, the adult obesity rate could reach 50 percent by 2030, according to one study.

The cost to society in terms of damaged lives, soaring health care costs and diminished economic growth and productivity is staggering.

A new analysis prepared for The Fiscal Times by Scott Kahan, director of the National Center for Weight & Wellness at George Washington University, pegs the total cost of obesity – including direct medical and non-medical services, decreased worker productivity, disability and premature death – at $305.1 billion annually.^v

Other studies, including one I heard about yesterday that cited JAMA, put the numbers of overweight and obese at 65 to 75% of our population. In addition to the loss of productivity and death, the costs may be secondary to the medical costs of the obesity and resulting diseases,^vi the direct costs,^vii and the costs of various therapies (both established and those that are promoted by get rich quick artists)^viii and their results.^ix There are costs as well to vendors^x whose products may be banned or restricted by government edicts, or when relabeling is required.^xi

I shouldn't overlook the psychological basis of some obesity, but I leave it to the psychiatrists to expand on that.

That's not the whole story, though. “Up to 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder) in the U.S.”^xii And “[a]ccording to a study done by colleagues at the American Journal of Psychiatry (2009), crude mortality rates were: 4% for anorexia nervosa, 3.9%  for bulimia nervosa, 5.2% for eating disorder not otherwise specified.”^xiii

As with obesity, the reasons for (and results of) under-eating may be medical or psychological^xiv – or perhaps even the psychological is medical. It can certainly result in medical problems. But it is very good for the fashion industry.^xv Some of the thinness that is apparent, and perhaps admired, is the result of chronic disease. Cachexia secondary to cancer is something not to be envied.

It's a little confusing. I know that I shouldn't weigh too much, but I'd better not obsess over it if I know what's good for me, and nothing related to weight seems to be good for me.

So the only logical conclusion is that I should go on some kind of a diet. Or maybe not. And that's exactly what I'll do.

Tomorrow.

Next episode: “Identity Unknown” – I am what I am. Unless I'm not.

 

 

I        And a quarter of an inch (but who's measuring?). They take age and sex into consideration as well so let me inform you that I'm 76 and was male the last time I looked.

ii          Based on the Robinson formula (1983), your ideal weight is 160.7 lbs
Based on the Miller formula (1983), your ideal weight is 158.1 lbs
Based on the Devine formula (1974), your ideal weight is 166.0 lbs
Based on the Hamwi formula (1964), your ideal weight is 171.3 lbs
Based on the healthy BMI recommendation, your recommended weight is 132.6 lbs -   179.2 lbs

         The numbers are based on various formulae.

iii       Actually, I'm hungry.

iv       I even tried Celsius. It's 82.22.

v        It's important to remember that there are psychological costs as well. In fact, some of what is viewed as “obesity” is imagined. It may be treated also. Add that to the price tag.

vi       Diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, etc.

vii      More food, larger (more expensive) clothes, increased insurance costs.

viii     I leave it to you to decide what's established and what results from the efforts of get rich quick artists, but they include surgery, medicines, diets, supplements, diet books and programs, prepared diet meals delivered to your home, etc.

ix       If you actually manage to lose weight you'll need new clothes or alterations in the ones you have.

x        And negative effects on citizens' rights.

xi       For example soda, as well as sugar, fats, salt, and the products that include them.

xii      Wade, T. D., Keski-Rahkonen A., & Hudson J. Epidemiology of eating disorders. In M. Tsuang and M. Tohen (Eds.), Textbook in Psychiatric Epidemiology (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley, 2011. p. 343-360.

xiii     Crow, S.J., Peterson, C.B., Swanson, S.A., Raymond, N.C., Specker, S., Eckert, E.D., Mitchell, J.E. (2009) Increased mortality in bulimia nervosa and other eating disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 166, 1342-1346.

xiv     Or even economic. Poverty, especially in the Third World, is a major cause of starvation.

xv     From the pictures of models that I see, especially their expressionless countenances, I suspect that the drug industry is a large contributor to the phenomenon.