Gaze at the magazine rack in your local grocery shop or supermarket, or turn on the television, and you could be forgiven for thinking that we are all obsessed with our weight.
There are endless articles and television shows suggesting the best way to shed a few kilos or drop a dress size, and almost as many admonishing us for our expanding and unhealthy waistlines.
Many of these are concerned with a simple, ubiquitous calculation: body mass index (BMI).
Developed in the 19th century by Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgian academic who made contributions to several scientific disciplines, BMI remains the most popular guide as to whether a person is underweight, overweight or more or less the right size.
It is calculated by measuring a person’s weight in kilograms and dividing this by their height, in metres, multiplied by itself. So if you measure 1.8 metres and weigh 75kg, your BMI is 75 divided by 1.8 x 1.8, or 75/3.24, which is 23.1.
According to the World Health Organisation, the normal range for BMI is between 18.5 and 25, with anything below this considered underweight.
However, some organisations suggest 18.5 to 23 for certain Asian communities more at risk of health problems at lower BMI levels. Between 25 and 30 is considered overweight, while anything above 30 is classed as obese.
It is tempting to think that being overweight is largely a problem that develops as we age and see the modest waistlines of our younger selves expand.
However, a recent study by researchers at UAE University (UAEU) in Al Ain suggests that in the Emirates being overweight or obese has become a potential concern even for people still in their late teens or 20s.
The research measured the BMI of more than 300 people aged 16 to 28 in the UAE, most of them Emiratis.
It found that 42.2 per cent of the men surveyed were overweight or obese, along with 21.3 per cent of the women. The lead author of the study, Dr Ayesha Al Dhaheri, called the findings “really surprising”.
“When it comes to adolescents, you expect that they are more active than others whose age is more than 30 or 35,” she said.
“You expect that they should be within the normal BMI, that they are healthy individuals rather than obese or overweight.”
Although a host of factors are likely to contribute to an individual developing a high BMI, including genetic contributors, Dr Al Dhaheri suggests that lack of physical activity and dietary habits are likely to be key in the UAE.
Also, what she describes as the “supporting environment” could be important, with the availability of facilities such as gyms influencing whether people exercise or not.
With young men, there is an additional concern: many seem to be failing to recognise that they may have a weight problem.
Just 34.4 per cent of the men questioned believed they were overweight or obese, even though 42.2 per cent actually were.
This means that without realising it, young men could be putting themselves at risk of problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, all of which are associated with being overweight.
Being underweight does, of course, bring with it health problems too. Among them are an increased risk of having a weakened immune system, being anaemic and suffering from nutrient deficiencies.
This means it is also important that people do not overestimate their BMI, as this could encourage them to lose weight when they do not need to.
The UAE study, which involved two other UAEU researchers and an academic at Mahasarakham University in Thailand, indicated that some women of normal weight tended to believe that they were overweight.
The results show that 21.3 per cent of the women were overweight or obese, but 29.3 per cent perceived themselves to be that.
“We can see the same trend with women from European countries or the United States,” said Dr Al Dhaheri.
“They tend to compare the body image with a model or an actress – she wants to be like the model she likes or the actress she’s a fan of.”
It is an issue, says Dr Al Dhaheri, that can lead to anorexia in severe cases.
Studies in other parts of the world have produced similar findings, according to Sarah Grogan, a professor of psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University in Britain. She is also the author of Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women and Children.
“Australian work has shown that women tend to overestimate their body size, and work conducted in the USA has produced similar findings,” said Prof Grogan.
“There are relatively fewer studies on men, though existing data suggests that men are less likely to overestimate their body size than women.”
In the UAE, awareness programmes to help inform young people about what weight is appropriate could help combat problems of being underweight or overweight.
“This simple calculation [of their BMI] will help the person to identify where they stand,” said Dr Al Dhaheri.
It takes just a few seconds to calculate your BMI using a calculator or pen and paper. But these days there are also more hi-tech ways of letting a person know how large or small they are, and these could prove useful too.
Prof Grogan and her colleagues have been studying the effect that whole-body scanning can have on a woman’s body image – and the results are striking.
“Women who are shown their body in 3D on a computer screen are surprised that they look more slender and in proportion than they expected,” she said.
“This may be because they are shown a more detailed 3D view of their body than is possible through looking in the mirror or at photographs.
“Possibly whole-body scanning could be used as an intervention for men and women to give people a more realistic estimate of their body size and shape.”
newsdesk@thenational.ae
