Text/Tang Qiaoling Associate Professor, Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

With the changes in people’s living conditions and eating habits, more and more people are obese, and weight loss has gradually become a national fashion. So, does everyone who looks meaty need to lose weight?

What is the standard for obesity?

At present, it is mainly based on body mass index (BMI) to measure obesity.

BMI=weight (kg)/height squared (meter squared).

BMI between 18.5 and 23.9 is normal, below 18.5 is thin, above 23.9 is overweight, and 24.0-27.9 is overweight. Obesity in the true medical sense is a BMI over 28.

In daily life, many people are still in a state of being slightly fat, so they try various ways to lose weight. This is a misunderstanding of obesity. In fact, numerous studies have found that moderate obesity is not necessarily a bad thing, and not all fat people need to lose weight.

Do slightly overweight people live longer?

A series of studies in recent years have found that overweight people People live longer. For example, a survey in the United States showed that people who were normal weight at the age of 31 and gradually became overweight in middle and old age had a relatively low mortality rate compared with those who remained normal weight all the time.

Research shows that Chinese, Japanese and Korean populations with a BMI between 22.6 and 27.5 have the lowest risk of death. Slightly obese people live longer, possibly because proper fat storage helps fight disease and improves immunity and recovery.

What kind of “fat” needs to be reduced?

The physique of people who need to lose weight is mainly Qi deficiency, phlegm-dampness, blood stasis and other biased constitutions.

People with qi deficiency constitution are prone to fatigue and lack of energy, and they tend to sweat when they exercise a little.

Those with phlegm-dampness constitution have a greasy head and face, have a big belly, and are prone to snoring during sleep.

Those with phlegm-dampness and blood stasis constitution not only have the characteristics of phlegm-dampness and blood stasis, but also have the main manifestations of elevated blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipids.

These people are susceptible to metabolic diseases, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and their quality of life will also be affected by obesity. Therefore, comprehensive interventions such as lifestyle and drugs are required. means to lose weight.

For overweight and obese people with a BMI below 28, if their weight status remains stable, their physical strength is normal, and they do not have the above three types of biased physique characteristics, there is no need to deliberately lose weight. It may be good for health to maintain the current state of life.