The American Obesity Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to changing policies and views on obesity. Their website has a lot of fact sheets and information on the dangers of being obese and what to do to overcome it. Overall pretty depressing if you're obese.
But I do like the cool automatic form for calculating your BMI. According to the BMI on this site I am obese (not really a surprise). I'm not a big fan of BMIs. It's an old system that doesn't take into account muscle mass and bone density -- an archaic tool developed by insurance sellers.
Just for kicks I decided to throw in some of the other weights I've had. In college I weighed in at 180. Back then I used to run two miles every day until I threw out my back and the chiropractor I was seeing told me I shouldn't be running because I was too heavy. According to the American Obesity Association's BMI I was overweight and only two points away from being obese. Even at 165 I would come in at the lower end of the overweight scale.
There are a number of areas for information regarding education, research, prevention and treatment both for the individual and for health care professionals wishing to help their patients. There is also an excellent article on consumer protection.
I have not yet decided if I like American Obesity Association or not yet, especially since two of its sponsors are Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. It's of hard to believe an organization whose major funding comes from weight loss companies with questionable ads looking for customers.
Visit the American Obesity Association official website to decide for yourself. But also make sure you check out Big Fat Facts's simple page of information.
