At your last visit to VNA Health Care, your provider may have identified that your BMI, or your child’s BMI, was elevated. Learn more about BMI, the risks, and the follow-up steps you can take to get your BMI to a healthy level again.
What is BMI?
Body Mass Index (BMI) is an estimate of body fat and a good gauge of your risk for diseases that can occur with more body fat. BMI is calculated from your height and weight. A BMI score of 25.0-29.9 is considered Overweight and 30.0 and above is considered Obese.
What are the risks of elevated BMI?
The higher your BMI, the higher your risk for certain diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, breathing problems, and certain cancers. In addition to BMI, your provider will also take into account your waist circumference and other risk factors in determining your overall health risk and recommended course of action.
What can I do to improve BMI for myself or my child?
Work with your VNA care team to get yourself or your child to a healthy weight (and maintain it) through a healthy level of physical activity, healthy eating habits, and other recommended treatments and preventive measures.
Control weight
This may mean losing weight or preventing further weight gain. The good news is even a small weight loss (between 5 and 10 percent of your current weight) can help lower your risk of developing diseases associated with obesity.
Changing the way you approach weight loss can help you be more successful at weight management. Most people who are trying to lose weight focus on just the goal of weight loss. However, setting the right goals and focusing on lifestyle changes such as following a healthy eating plan, watching portion sizes, being physically active, and reducing sedentary time are much more effective.
Be physically active
Being physically active and eating fewer calories can help you lose weight and keep the weight off over time.
While people vary quite a bit in the amount of physical activity they need for weight control, many can maintain their weight by doing 150 to 300 minutes (2 ½ to 5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity activity such as brisk walking.
People who want to lose a large amount of weight (more than 5 percent of their body weight)—and people who want to keep off the weight that they’ve lost—may need to be physically active for more than 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week.
Eat right
To lose weight, it’s important to make lifestyle changes with a focus on reducing calories from food and beverages, a healthy eating plan, and portion control. Over time, these changes will become part of your everyday routine, which is preferred to the temporary, and potentially unsafe, results from an overly restrictive crash or fad “diet”.
Get exercise and nutrition tips by downloading Healthy Lifestyle care instructions:
- Adults: Healthy Lifestyle care instructions
- Children: Healthy Lifestyle care instructions
- Toddlers: Healthy Lifestyle care instructions
Sign up for Step By Step Wellness Classes at VNA.
Classes include how to cook simply, eat healthfully, be more active, cope with stress, and more. Learn from VNA experts and other patients who share your concerns. View our calendar for class locations, dates, times, and how to register – https://www.vnahealth.com/calendar/
Get follow-up care, as this is a key part of your treatment and safety.
Be sure to make and go to all appointments, and contact your VNA provider if you are having problems. It’s also a good idea to know your test results and keep a list of the medicines you take. In addition to the steps above, your care plan may include behavior therapy, medications, or other treatments and preventive measures.
Make an appointment
If you would like to talk further with your VNA provider about the BMI follow-up plan for yourself or your child – https://www.vnahealth.com/services/make-an-appointment/.