European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 9, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse When temptation Calls some dieters hear a whisper but Only a few Are deaf. By William Stockton new York times not nearly everyone would like to lose a Little weight. Nearly everyone is on a diet i contemplating beginning diet or just fell off a diet. Some people even exercise and diet at the same time a modern form of masochism. To say that americans Are a bit obsessed with weight is to state the obvious. Perhaps they should be obsessed. By current estimates of obesity experts 16 million americans Are 20 percent overweight. But How much should someone weigh it turns out that Elbow Width is the key. Elbow Width determines where you fall in the widely accepted tables of height and weight published by the metropolitan life insurance co. If you happen to have big elbows not fat elbows but Large Bony elbows you can weigh More and feel less guilty about it because you have a Large Frame and Are expected to carry More weight. If the genetic Dice throw gave you slender elbows then you should weigh less because you have a smaller Frame. So says the Ideal weight table. But wait. One person s bulk is another s svelte. Ideal weight is a High stakes game in a society in which weight fitness and diet Are tied up in questions of health Long life and self image. Not surprisingly the notion of Ideal weight generates controversy. We Don t even like to use the term Ideal weight or desirable weight1 anymore said or. Charles b. Arnold a medical director at metropolitan life. There Are too Many interpretations that might be so the company merely publishes height and weight in 1942 and 1959 when metropolitan published its tables of Ideal height and weight based on analysis of millions of life insurance policyholders the company saw its Chart filling a Public health education need. It was Clear to the actuaries that people who weighed More tended to die sooner. The tables became a Standard in the medical profession giving doctors sound evidence to cite when telling patients that they should drop a few pounds. Then in 1983, metropolitan published a new table again based on statistical analysis of several million policyholders. It listed the weights by age height and Frame size that tended to be associated with living longer. The Only problem was that the new weights were higher than those in the older table. There was an outcry of course since metropolitan seemed to be saying it was suddenly permissible to be a few pounds heavier. We weren t saying it was All right to be heavier Arnold said. All we were saying was that heavy people seemed to have a lower mortality in 1983 than in 1959 based on study of life insurance policy Why heavier people might be living longer remains perplexing. Perhaps stopping smoking controlling diabetes lowering blood pressure and a gradual shift to less fat in the diet or just better Overall medical care Are responsible. But the change in the table highlighted Ideal weight is just an Elbow away an important truth there is no definitive Way to say exactly what someone should weigh. There Are too Many variables ranging from genetic makeup to sociological considerations to a fondness for sandwiches of Peanut butter and marshmallow Creme. Still we All need guidelines with which to whip ourselves Onward or provide a Cushion of smugness. And nutritionists metropolitan height and weight tables All weights Are in pounds for adults 25 to 59 years old. Men s weights and Heights include clothing weighing 5 pounds and shoes with 1 Inch heels. Women s weights and Heights include clothing weighing 3 pounds and shoes with 1 Inch heels. Men Small height Frame 5-2 5-3 5-4 5-5 5-6 5-7 5-8 5-9 5-10 5-lt 6-0 6-1 6-2 6-3 6-4" 128-134 130-136 132-138 134-140 136-142 138-145 140-148 142-151 144-154 146-157 149-160 152-164 155-168 158-172 162-176 medium Frame 131-141 133-143 135-145 137-148 139-151 142-154 145-157 148-160 151-163 154-166 157-170 160-174 164-178 167-182 171-187 Large Frame 138-150 140-153 142-156 144-160 146-164 149-168 152-172 155-176 158-180 161-184 164-188 168-192 172-197 176-202 181-207 women Small height Frame 4-10 4-11 5-0 5-1 5-2 5-3 5-4 5-5 5-6 5-7 5-8 5-9 5-10 5-11 6-0 102-111 103-113 104-115 106-118 108-121 111-124 114-127 117-130 120-133 123-136 126-139 129-142 132-145 135-148 138-151 medium Frame 109-121 111-123 113-126 115-129 1.18-132 121-135 124-138 127-141 130-144 133-147 136-150 139-153 142-156 145-159 148-162 Large Frame 118-131 120-134. 122-137 125-140 128-143 131-147 134-151 137-155 140-159 143-163 146-167 149-170 152-173 155-176 158-179 source 1979 build study society of actuaries and association of life insurance medical directors of America. 1 980. � j 983 metropolitan life insurance company. Not 2 measuring your Frame size with your Elbow to determine your Frame size Bend the forearm upward at a 90-degree Angle. Keep the fingers straight and turn the inside of your wrist toward the body. Place the thumb and Index Finger of your other hand on the two prominent Bones on either Side of your Elbow. Elbow measurements below Are for men and women of medium Frame. Measurements lower than those listed indicate you have a Small Frame while higher measurements indicate a Large Frame. Men women height Elbow breadth height Elbow breadth in 1 Inch heels inches in 1 Inch heels inches 52"-5 5 4"-5 6 0"-6 6 4" 3" 7" 3" 2v2"-27/e" 25/8"-2%" 2%"-3ve" 27/b"-31/4" 5 0"-5 3" 5 4"-5 7" 6 0" 2 /4"-2v2" 2 /4"-2 /2" 2%"-25/e" 2v2"-2%" source of Basic data National health and nutrition Survey 1 97 1-75. National Center for health statistics. �1983 metropolitan life. Continue to regard the tables As the Best data available. I would say the consensus among professionals is that the metropolitan life figures Are probably As Good As any said Brian Morgan a nutritionist in the Institute of human nutrition at Columbia presbyterian medical Center in new York. Many people in the obesity Field would say the numbers probably Are too High but this is a subjective judgment. Nobody really knows what the Correct weight for any person the metropolitan table is based on Frame size. Several studies have shown that such things As the size of the Elbow Chest hip wrist or knee correlate nicely with Overall Frame size. Metropolitan chose the Elbow. Elbow sizes Are Best measured with a Caliper which most health clubs or a doctor s office should have. It is also possible to measure your Elbow with a ruler. Grasp the two Knobby protrusions on either Side of the Elbow with thumb and forefinger and then have someone measure the distance Between the fingers with a ruler. In each Frame category the height and weight table provides a wide Range of acceptable weights. In each category i think you should strive to fall in the Middle Morgan said. If you re at the upper end of the weight Range for your Frame size perhaps you could lose a Pound or two. If you re at the Bottom perhaps you should gain a Pound or some sports doctors have an alternative approach to Ideal weight based on a formula involving height. A Man should take his height in inches multiply it by four and then subtract 128 to calculate Ideal weight. Someone who is 6 feet 2 inches would multiply 74 inches by 4 and subtract 128, coming up with 168 pounds. A woman should multiply height in inches by 3.5 and then subtract 108. These weights however can be Low for someone with a Large Frame the doctors who use this system say. So they advise adding 10 percent for such people. Fat is More fattening research shows by Jane e. Brody new York times at calories appear to count More to the human body than do calories from carbohydrates according to careful analysis of the diets and body fat Content of 155 sedentary obese men. The study conducted at the Stanford Center for research in disease prevention bolsters the belief that dietary composition not calories per be is mainly responsible for certain weight problems. The analysis was published in the current american journal of clinical nutrition. It indicated that the percentage of body fat in the participants was directly related to the proportion of their daily calories that came from fat. The More fat and fewer carbohydrates sugars and starches the men consumed the More of their total weight was made up of fat. But their percentage of body fat was not related to their total caloric intake or the number or size of the meals they consumed the researchers said. The research which refined methods of measuring body weight and caloric Content May help explain Why americans today eat less but weigh More than americans did decades ago. About 40 percent of the calories in the typical american diet now come from fat. This represents an increase of almost a third in fat calories since 1910, when far More starchy foods were regularly consumed. At the same time americans eat fewer total calories today but Are much More Likely to be overweight than in the past. While the modern sedentary lifestyle is a contributing Factor dietary composition also seems to play a major role the research team headed by Darlene m. Dreon concluded. Among the Many possible explanations for this observation is the fact that the body is highly efficient at converting ingested fat into body fat. Only 3 percent of ingested calories Are needed to put dietary fat into storage but converting dietary carbohydrates into body fat uses up 23 percent of the calories consumed. The new finding also meshes with a recent observation made during an extensive study of the chinese diet although the chinese consume on a Pound for Pound basis 20 percent More calories than americans there is Little obesity in China. In addition to being More Active than americans the chinese derive an average of Only 15 percent of their calories from fat. Instead the chinese diet is Rich in starchy and fibrous carbohydrates which also help to protect them against heart disease. Tuesday August 9, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 17
