Your Maximum Weight Limit: Pounds versus Height

September 23, 2009

In our ongoing war against excess body weight we are often shown tables that reflect our ideal weight. What we don’t see as often is something that George Fernandez, director of the Center for Research Design and Analysis, at the University of Neveda, Reno, thinks we should all see a lot more of: a maximum weight limit scale.

So following weight recommendations listed on body mass index charts, Fernandez has created a system that is easier to calculate and easier to follow. In essence, Fernandez idea is a simple one, rather than, for example, telling a man who is 5 feet, 9 inches, that his ideal body weight is approximately 150 pounds, why not give him a number that serves as a maximum weight limit, in this example 175 pounds.

“When you drive, you have a speed limit. This is similar to that concept,” says Fernandez. “This number tells people, ‘This is your maximum weight. You should not go over that weight.‘ It’s a simple concept that should stay in their heads.”

The Maximum Weight Limit is calculated on a baseline of height and weight. As previously stated, a man who is 5 feet 9 inches, should weigh no more than 175 pounds. A woman who is 5 feet should weigh no more than 125 pounds. To find your Maximum Weight Limit, simply calculate how much taller or shorter you are in inches. A man should subtract or add 5 pounds for every inch taller or shorter than 5 feet 9. A woman should add or subtract 4.5 pounds for every inch she differs from the baseline height of 5 feet.

Fernandez is quick to acknowledge that this number does not reflect a person’s ideal weight. As he suggests, people differ in their build and muscle mass. Rather this tool is meant to give people a stop sign. “This is something simple that says, ‘This is your limit,’ ” Fernandez says. People who reach their limit should change their lifestyle to eat healthier and exercise more or should seek professional guidance to halt the upward spiral of further weight gain. “At this point,” he cautions, “it’s time to intervene and take steps immediately to prevent additional weight gain.”

Often when we see individuals who have gone from overweight to obese to morbidly obese it’s obvious that for whatever reasons, they have gone well beyond what Fernandez calls, their Maximum Weight Limit, and having now done that there appears to be no sensible limit to additional weight gain.

Fernandez came up with the formula after talking to doctors and nutritionists about his own weight. “They all came up with different numbers: a weight range, ideal weight, healthy weight, and Body Mass Index, BMI.” After research into various weight guidelines, Fernandez was also surprised to learn just how complex the BMI calculation was. BMI, which came into popular use in recent years, was actually introduced by a Belgian statistician more than 200 years ago. As Fernandez suggests, BMI is a fine way to measure or diagnose obesity, but for the average person, it’s a much harder calculation to make.

Fernandez is presenting his theory at a conference of the Nevada Public Health Association. He plans to begin testing the Maximum Weight Limit concept to see whether people find it helpful and to identify whether the number could replace BMI in clinical studies on weight.

Our guess is that this new system will succeed in doing this. In today’s society individuals need a fast and easy way to be able to say, “this is my personal weight speed limit. No matter the season of the year, this is a number I simply don’t want to exceed.”

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