It has just been revealed that the average weight for women in the UK is now 11 stone – that is nine pounds heavier than Miss Average weighed 20 years ago in 1991. Bearing in mind that a staggering 25% of women in this country are now classed as obese, then these are frightening figures.
But in fairness they do need to be taken with a pinch of salt. Since having a baby 18 months ago, I have been desperately trying to shed weight and tone up and I have successfully lost a stone – give or take – I keep putting on 2lbs, losing 2lbs, putting it on again – anyway I digress!
I belong to a gym that gives you a medical every few months, checking your blood pressure, heart rate, fitness levels and of course weight. I was delighted that everything has improved from my last check nine months ago, except one thing. I am an apple shape inherited from my mum – thanks for that mum – and so I always put weight on in the tummy area. But I have very narrow hips. So my waist to hip ratio is, on the borderline of being ‘dangerous’. Even the very fit, in more ways than one, gym instructor who took all my measurements, agreed the results were skewed.
These measurements, whether they are BMI or waist/hip ratio, simply don’t take into consideration different shapes or fitness levels. Brad Pitt was classed as obese one year, for goodness sake, because he had bulked up to play a part and was full of muscle. So think on statistic people – not everyone is ‘average’.
Picture credit: puuikibeach
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About the author
Mum on the Run lives life in the fast lane, but not in the traditional sense. Gone are the days of partying until the small hours, although the lack of sleep is still a big feature seeing as she has two children - a five-year-old girlie girl who never stops talking and a toddler who looks like a cherub but screams like a banshee. In her spare time she is also deputy editor on At Home magazine, a job share, and looks forward to her peaceful days away from the children, writing features and interviewing At Home celebs. Read how she stumbles through the different stages of parenting, trying oh so very hard to get it even a bit right!
