• When Bigger Is Not Better
    Awake!—1997 | June 22

    • New Weight Guidelines

      The U.S. government, convinced of a serious weight crisis, toughened its recommended weight guidelines in 1995. (See the box on the next page.) The updated guidelines identify “healthy weight,” “moderate overweight,” and “severe overweight.” The guidelines apply to both adult men and women, irrespective of age.

      The 1990 guidelines made allowance for middle-body growth in middle age, often called middle-age spread. The new guidelines do not make this allowance, since indications are that adults should not gain weight over time.b Thus, a person who was formerly considered of normal weight may now find himself in the overweight category. For example, a five-foot-six-inch [168 cm] person between the ages of 35 and 65 who weighed 165 pounds [75 kg] would have been within the healthy weight range under the 1990 guidelines. But under the new guidelines, he or she would be ten pounds [5 kg] overweight!

  • When Bigger Is Not Better
    Awake!—1997 | June 22

    • Are you in the “healthy weight,” “moderate overweight,” or “severe overweight” range? The graph shown here will help you answer that question

      1995 Weight Guidelines for Both Men and Women

      (For fully formatted text, see publication)

      Height *

      6ʹ 6ʺ

      6ʹ 0ʺ

      5ʹ 6ʺ HEALTHY WEIGHT MODERATE OVERWEIGHT SEVERE OVERWEIGHT

      5ʹ 0ʺ

      50 lb 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250

      Weight†

      Statistics based on: U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

      * Without shoes.

      † Without clothes. The higher weights apply to people with more muscle and bone, such as many men.

  • When Bigger Is Not Better
    Awake!—1997 | June 22

    • b The 1995 guidelines apply to most age groups but not all. “There is general agreement that the new weight guidelines are probably not applicable to people older than 65 years,” says Dr. Robert M. Russell in JAMA of June 19, 1996. “A little excess weight in the older person may even be of benefit by providing an energy reserve for periods of illness and by helping to preserve muscle and bone mass.”