When it comes to obesity, boys are more concerned than girls! It makes sense...

According to statistics from the World Health Organization, there are nearly 2 billion people in the world who are overweight or obese. But you don’t have to worry too much, because being in a state of anxiety about losing weight is not good for your health...

Only by correctly understanding your physical condition can you choose the most suitable lifestyle for yourself. The BMI index is one of the most commonly used indicators to measure human body fatness and thinness in the world.

BMI calculation formula

According to international standards, the BMI calculation formula is weight (kg) divided by height (m) squared. A BMI index greater than 25 is generally considered overweight, and greater than 30 is considered obese. Different BMI index standards have been formulated to determine whether a person is fat or thin based on the physical differences of people in different regions.

BMI standards vary by region. Image source: Internet

Are men more satisfied with their body shape?

Although there is an internationally accepted formula for calculating BMI, for people who do not exercise regularly, this calculation method is very unfamiliar or even unheard of, so many people can only rely on their feelings to estimate whether they are obese or thin. There is a big difference between many people's self-perception and the clinical definition of healthy weight.

Take the people around us for example, I believe everyone has the same feeling, some female friends are still crazy about losing weight in pursuit of a perfect body even if they are already very slim. On the contrary, many men, although they have average figures, are often "full of confidence".

The real you and the you in your heart, picture source pxhere

Some time ago, researchers from the Medical University of Silesian in Poland published a paper on this phenomenon: Perception of body size and body dissatisfaction in adults.

In the paper, the researchers conducted a study on 774 adults who participated in the experiment. The results showed that less than two-thirds of the adults could correctly estimate their BMI index.

What is shocking is that less than half of people can correctly judge their body shape and physical condition. This shows that in our daily lives, we pay too little attention to our own health.

In this paper, the researchers also emphasized that men are more likely to underestimate their BMI index and body shape than women, and correspondingly, men are more likely to be satisfied with their body shape.

This result is not surprising. In life, most women do pay more attention to their appearance than men and have higher requirements for their appearance, which makes them more likely to fall into an excessive pursuit of a thin body.

In the study, researchers also found that nearly 40% of people with a healthy weight think they are thin, while about 35% of overweight people think they are healthy, and nearly 50% of obese people think they are just overweight. And among these subjects, 65% of them hope to be thinner. These data show how much people fear the word obesity.

Confident girls are the most beautiful

As mentioned above, women are prone to the anxiety of having a "perfect body". Many women have body anxiety due to the influence of the external environment, and believe that women must be thin and thin is the representative of beauty. Is being too thin necessarily beautiful?

Just like the frog princess Gu Ailing once said, "Beauty is powerful." The pursuit of beauty should not be limited to the standard of "thinness". Confidence, cheerfulness, broad interests, ideals, kindness, etc. are all manifestations of "beauty".

Gu Ailing, Image source: CCTV Sports News

Body image anxiety seems to be not only a psychological problem, but also a social problem. Each of us may have a negative body image in our hearts, which contains some negative attitudes towards our own body.

This attitude can sometimes help us pay more attention to our own health and achieve our self-expectations through a healthy lifestyle. But sometimes it can lead to excessive focus on negative body images, breaking the original healthy lifestyle and blindly pursuing a better body. A study found that 63% of women believe that weight is an important factor in determining their mood.

There is no doubt that Victoria's Secret models have good figures, but that is definitely not the only standard of beauty! As our understanding of ourselves continues to deepen, confidence and health are the most beautiful.

Victoria's Secret perfect body advertisement, picture source: Internet

Many women who read this may ask, how can we build a more positive self-image? Here I recommend a four-step method of self-cognition.

1. Don’t guess or think about your weight. You can use tools such as body fat scales and professional equipment in the gym to help us clearly see our weight situation.

2. Learn to accept yourself. A person’s appearance does not represent everything about her. We all have many advantages that are worth discovering.

3. Replace those quick weight loss tips with moderate exercise, a healthy diet, and a regular schedule.

4. In the process of gradually improving your body shape, develop positive emotions and never let yourself fall into body shape anxiety!

Finally, we still have to learn from the Frog Princess that confident and powerful women are the most beautiful.

Audit Expert

Wang Guoyi, Postdoctoral Fellow in Food Safety.

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