How does overweight cause high blood pressure?
What about being overweight? First we need to clearly define what it is to be overweight. Most women not only are aware of their weight status but are actually likely to overestimate how overweight they are; men have the opposite problem. The simplest way of determining your ideal weight is to do the “pinch test.” Pull out on the skin at your waist just above your hip. If it is less than an inch and close to the width of your little finger, you are the unusual person who is at his or her ideal weight. It has been found that excess weight at the waistline is more damaging than excess weight on the hips or arms this is the socalled male pattern of obesity, because men are more likely to put on extra weight at the waistline. For men, ideal weight equals height in inches times 4 minus 120; for women, height in inches times 3.5 minus 100. Thus for a 5-foot-5-inch woman, ideal weight is 127.5 pounds. For most of us, excess weight does not increase heart disease risk until you are about ...