Weight Obsession

One of the nice little things that happened when my family sat down for our Thanksgiving meal (at a restaurant in Carmel) was that my sister ordered, and ate, a steak and everything that came with it, including potatos, a salad and dessert. It told me that my sister is finally happy with the way she looks.


My sister has never been overweight. In fact, she always been on the thin side. But, for as long as I can remember, she's been on a diet. When we were kids and our family went out to eat, she would order a salad for her main course because it was low in calories. The salads she'd order were so small and so low cal that she'd pick at everyone else's food, she was so hungry. So, I was glad to see her eat at Thanksgiving not only for her sake, but for mine, for it meant I got to eat my whole meal too!

Unfortunately, the next day I heard one of my nieces ask the dreaded question: "does this make me look fat?"

First of all, she is nowhere close to looking fat. Secondly, she's 10 years old, which means that she should be gaining weight, for she is growing. Rapid and sudden weight gain at this age is normal and should not be interpreted to mean that one is "getting fat".

Our society places way too much importance on the way a person looks. This overemphasis on appearance leads to people being overly concerned about their weight.

On the other hand, obesity among young people is a problem in this country. This is basically the result of too much of the wrong kind of food and not enough exercise.


The simple solution: eat sensibly, that is, don't eat too much sweet or fatty foods and get regular exercise.


Good news: the people of Marin County are thought to be the "skinniest" in California because of the way we eat and the amount of exercise we get.

So, do you want to know where you stand? Are you part of the obesity epidemic or are you unnecessarily worried about your weight? I've added a gadget to the sidebar which can help you figure it out. It's called a Body Mass Index Calculator (BMI).

To use it, simply enter your height and weight in the appropriate boxes, then click on the Body Mass Indicator box at the bottom and you will get your BMI. Then, compare your BMI to the range shown in the box below the calculator. Most of you will be happy with what you see, for in my experience with fitness testing at Park School, I've found only one or two students each year who have a BMI in the overweight range.

Please note that BMI is only a estimate of fitness and not perfect. For example my BMI is 24.9. According to the adult BMI scale, that means that I'm overweight. I'm not. My BMI is high because I have big leg muscles from riding my bike so much. Muscle weighs more than fat which causes my BMI to be high. So, while BMI is helpful, it isn't the final word.