J16 — April 2009 — Normal Weight Obesity

Intro: If you step on the scale and the numbers show you're at a normal weight, there's a one in four chance you're actually obese. It's called normal weight obesity. You might look slim, but you could have a high percentage of body fat compared to lean muscle and bone. This puts you at risk of heart disease, diabetes and other conditions. More from Mayo Clinic.

THIS MAY LOOK LIKE A SCENE FROM A SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE, BUT THIS CAPSULE-LIKE MACHINE IS THE LATEST IN MEASURING BODY FAT PERCENTAGE.

"THE RESULTS ARE 38-PERCENT BODY FAT."

THE MACHINE WORKS BY MEASURING THE AMOUNT OF AIR YOUR BODY DISPLACES IN THE CAPSULE.

"IT MAKES CLUNKING AND CHIRPING NOISES WILE YOU'RE IN THERE."

IT SHOW'S THAT SHERRY LAWRENCE'S WEIGHT AT 140 SOME POUNDS IS WITHIN NORMAL RANGE, BUT HER BODY FAT AT 38-PERCENT IS HIGH. SHERRY HAS WHAT'S CALLED NORMAL WEIGHT OBESITY, A COMMON PROBLEM FOR WOMEN OVER AGE 65 AND PEOPLE WHO ARE SEDENTARY.

"THE PROBLEM IS THAT WE HAVE BEEN DEFINING OBESITY ACCORDING TO BODY MASS INDEX. AND BODY MASS INDEX MEASURES LEAN MASS OR MUSCLE AND ALSO FAT. THEREFORE, SOMEBODY MIGHT HAVE VERY LITTLE MUSCLE MASS AND A LOT OF FAT AND STILL HAVE A NORMAL WEIGHT."

DR. FRANCISCO LOPEZ-JIMENEZ SAYS IF YOUR FAT COMPOSITION IS OVER 25-PERCENT FOR MEN AND 35-PERCENT FOR WOMEN, YOU ARE AT INCREASED RISK OF THE SAME CONDITIONS AS OBVIOUSLY OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE: HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, HIGH CHOLESTEROL AND HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE. HOW CAN YOU CHANGE THAT?

"THE INITIAL APPROACH SHOULD BE TO ENCOURAGE EXERCISE WITH A COMBINATION OF STRENGTH TRAINING OR WEIGHTS ALONG WITH AEROBIC EXERCISE TO BUILD UP MORE MUSCLE AND BONE MASS."

SHERRY IS TAKING THAT ADVICE SERIOUSLY.

"I'VE STEPPED UP THE PACE, SO TO SPEAK."

AND SHE'S CUTTING THE AMOUNT OF SATURATED FAT SHE EATS. HER GOAL IS NOT TO LOSE WEIGHT, BUT TO IMPROVE HER HEALTH BY LOWERING THE AMOUNT OF FAT IN HER BODY.

FOR MEDICAL EDGE, I'M VIVIEN WILLIAMS.

Anchor tag: Dr. Lopez-Jimenez recommends talking to your doctor about having your body fat percentage measured. He also says if that's not possible, many health clubs have ways to measure body fat. These measurements can tell you if you should work on building lean mass and decreasing fat.

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