No doubt, you might have heard BMI several times in your life. These three letters can either mean something negative for your body and health, or they can mean success after undergoing weight loss surgery in Mexico. Doctors base their recommendations for treatments and bariatric procedures based on a person’s BMI. But what does BMI mean? And, why should BMI matter so much to you?
What is the meaning of BMI?
This is an acronym that stands for Body Mass Index. This number or index is calculated by dividing the person’s weight by the square of his or her height. This value should always be expressed in kilograms and meters (kg/m2). This simple calculation is frequently used to know if a person is overweight and/or obese.
According to the World Health Organization, a person is overweight when he or she has a BMI of 25 or more; and a person is obese when such a BMI index is 30 or more. BMI provides a very useful tool to measure overweight and obesity for a country’s population. Even though it’s the same for adults, both men and women, we cannot be dogmatic, since the degree of fatness is different for each individual person.
Does BMI also apply for children and teenagers?
Yes, it does, and it is vital to do so since obesity has more than ever started at an early age in the last decade. The World Health Organization considers childhood obesity as one of the most challenging health issues that countries all over the world are facing. By 2016 the estimated number of children with obesity was over 41 million, with the number continuing to increase.
A more recent report from UNICEF, which is the United Nations Agency that strives to provide aid to children globally, showed that 200 million children under 5 years of age (almost 1 in every 3 children worldwide) are either undernourished or overweight. What about teenagers under 20 years old? The same report showed that 340 million adolescents between 5 and 19 years of age are overweight.
Let’s consider the numbers in the United States. Even with all the modern tendencies to eat and live healthier, 1 in every 5 young people under 18 years old has obesity. This means that their Body Mass Index (BMI) is at or above the 95th percentile for children and teenagers of his or her same age and gender.
For example, a 12-year-old boy weighs 102 pounds (46 kg) and has 56 inches of height (1.42 mt). As a result, his BMI is 22.9 kg/m2. This means that the boy is within the 95th percentile for BMI, placing him in the level of obesity. In other words, the child’s BMI is higher than the BMI of 95% of the population of boys of the same age.
Why should BMI matter so much to you? Weight loss surgery in Mexico
If your BMI shows that you have obesity, most likely, you are experiencing its side effects and complications. Among such complications are conditions such as high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and cardiovascular disease.
However, one of the most common conditions that come as a result of being overweight or obese is diabetes, making it one of the most popular reasons why patients chose to undergo weight loss surgery in Mexico. Let’s find out why.
Approximately 9.4% of the population in the United States, or about 30.3 million people, have diabetes. Furthermore, in the US, Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death.
People with prediabetes have higher levels of glucose in the blood. Such levels are higher than usual but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Obviously, before developing Type 2 diabetes, a person almost always has prediabetes. According to the Mexico Bariatric Center, research has demonstrated that some long-term damage to the body may occur during prediabetes.
On the other hand, a person acquires and is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes occurs because a person’s body is not able to produce adequate amounts of insulin, or the cells do not use it properly. Unfortunately, this type of diabetes is the one most people suffer from. In adults, approximately 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases have type 2 diabetes.
Complications from Diabetes
Every year in the United States, 1.5 million cases are diagnosed. Only in 2015, 84.1 million people 18 or older had prediabetes. Sadly, a recent study showed that about 193,000 young people under 20 years of age have type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
What about the financial burn that comes as a result of diabetes? Only in the US, during 2017, 327 billion dollars were spent on treating diabetes. Consider other risks and complications:
- The death rate in patients that have heart disease is two to four times higher in adults who have been diagnosed with diabetes than those without it.
- The risk of getting a stroke is two to four times higher if a person has diabetes.
- People with diabetes are very likely or at risk of high blood pressure.
- In people 24 to 74 years of age, diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness.
- The leading cause of patients with kidney failure is diabetes.
- Diabetes can cause mild to severe forms of nervous system damage or neuropathy. About 60 to 70% of patients with diabetes have this risk.
Fortunately, there are lasting solutions to reverse the effect of an unhealthy BMI and complications from diabetes. For example, in only 3 months, patients can reverse those effects thanks to weight loss surgery in Mexico.
Who should be considered to undergo bariatric surgery?
The very first patients that physicians suggest they should undergo weight loss surgery such as Gastric Sleeve Mexico are the ones with a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 40 and are least 18 years old. However, if your BMI is over 30 and you are having difficulties controlling your insulin levels because of type 2 diabetes or other complications such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol, you could qualify to undergo weight loss surgery only at the recommendation of a physician.
An increasing number of patients from the US, Canada, and other countries have been enjoying amazing results from a type of weight loss surgery in Mexico. If you would like to know what options the best for you are, call now at (858) 779-2552 or request a free quote.
