Understanding about your weight

Understanding about your weight...
There's a common belief that people who are overweight have a slow metabolism (burn energy slowly), while thin people have a fast metabolism (burn energy quickly). This is a myth.
Sorting the facts, from the fictions when it comes to weight loss and metabolism.

•Myths about metabolism - How your metabolism really affects your weight.(The term 'metabolic rate' refers to the energy (calories) you expend over a day just keeping your body functioning - your heart beating and your lungs breathing, for example. This is often called the basal or resting metabolic rate.

Scientists have measured the exact amount of calories overweight and healthy weight people burn while sitting or lying quietly. This was done by measuring the amount of oxygen breathed in and the amount of carbon dioxide breathed out.

Results from these studies have consistently shown that overweight people use more energy to keep their bodies working. This is because they have larger bodies with bigger muscles and internal organs.

However, after taking into account differences in body size, lean and obese people have been shown to have similar metabolic rates.)

•Causes of weight gain - Overeating, obviously, but other factors can also affect weight.(An underlying tendency to obesity may be the result of our genes. People who generally have little problem controlling their weight seem to have a precisely tuned appetite.

People who gain weight, on the other hand, may be less sensitive to their body's signals of fullness.

Many genes have been identified that either increase or decrease appetite.

People who generally have little problem controlling their weight seem to have a precisely tuned appetite, while people who struggle to control their weight may be less sensitive to their body's signals of fullness.

Studies of twins who've been raised apart attribute almost two-thirds of the difference in body fatness to genetic factors. However, genetic factors don't make obesity inevitable.

Habits
Eating habits develop over many years, and are strongly influenced by our first tastes as babies and dietary patterns formed in early childhood.

These are then continuously reinforced as we grow up, which makes them difficult to change.)

•Children's weight - Why establishing good eating patterns in childhood is vital.(Establishing healthy eating habits early on will ensure your child doesn't gain any excess weight and stays a healthy weight as they grow.
In the UK, the number of obese children continues to rise. Currently, just under one in five children between the ages of two and ten is obese.

Obese children tend to become obese adults. This increases the risk of developing certain diseases, such as type 2 diabetes.

If you think your child might be overweight or obese, check with your GP. They'll be able to advise you on how to provide the right support for your child to help slow or halt their weight gain and allow them to grow into their weight.

Even if your child doesn't have a weight problem, it's important to establish healthy eating habits early on so they don't gain any excess weight.

Good nutrition in childhood is vital for growth and development. Establishing healthy eating and activity patterns while children are young can lead to life-long habits that will help to determine whether or not they're healthy as adults.)

•Eating disorders - The causes of eating disorders and help available.(
Living with an eating disorder is a miserable, lonely experience. For most people, food is one of life's pleasures and an important social event. So if your feelings about food aren't relaxed, an important part of life becomes extremely stressed. This stress may add to other enormous stresses that may have led to the eating disorder in the first place.

When someone you know and love develops an eating disorder, it's easy to feel confused about what to do, and even threatened or angry.

Unfortunately, many health professionals are just as much at sea. Although eating disorders are increasing, we still know very little about their causes. Worse still, there aren't any quick or easy treatments.

A few things are clear. People with eating disorders aren't:

•Bad or being defiant
•Going through a 'teenage phase'
•The result of poor or inadequate parenting
•The product of modern stresses and obsession with weight
•Able to snap out of it.)