Healthy Concepts for Weight Management | 健康的體重管理概念

With social distancing measures that limit eating out during the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been eating more take away food, thus changing their overall eating habits. A new survey about the “Changing Eating Habits of Hongkongers during COVID-19” revealed that Hong Kong people lacked exercise and dietary imbalances were serious during the epidemic. Due to the dual factors, nearly half of the participants said they gained weight during the epidemic and ate more snacks during this period. More than 95% of the people said they ate 4 to 5 meals a day.

Obesity and high blood pressure are now common health problems in society. A health survey by the Hong Kong Department of Health showed that among people aged 15 to 84, about 50% are overweight or obese. About 59.2% suffer from hypertension, diabetes and/or high cholesterol, while men have more serious weight problems than women. Obesity would increase the risk factors of chronic diseases, including high blood pressure, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, etc.

Are you overweight?

Body mass index (BMI) is one of the methods to measure the degree of overweight and obesity. It is calculated by dividing body weight (in kilograms) by the square of height (in meters), or use the BMI calculator via the District Health Centre. For Hong Kong adults, a normal BMI index of 18 to 23, above 25 is considered to be slightly overweight, and more than 30 is severely obese.

Another method for measuring human adults is “dual energy X-ray absorptiometry”, or DEXA for short. DEXA can accurately analyze various parts of the body in terms of fat, muscle and bone composition and proportion. Although the technology is commonly used for measuring bone density, it’s also an effective way to measure whether someone is borderline overweight to help with weight management. The test is short and radiation levels are low, so can be implemented regularly as a more reliable measurement than calculating BMI.

Maintaining an ideal weight is the key to maintaining long-term health, but some people view weight loss as a lifelong goal. There is a flood of weight management information in the market, some of which are misleading, which makes people misunderstand and have prejudices against weight problems. If you do not understand the principles of food nutrition and healthy eating, coupled with the wrong way to lose weight, it may be counterproductive.

Healthy Tips

The doctors at The Central Clinic recommended that we use the following 4 tips to establish a positive outlook and understand food nutrition to help cultivate the concept of continuous healthy weight management:

1. Follow your feelings

Some people blindly follow the trend, neglecting their own preferences and feelings in order to achieve the goal of reduction. Some even believe that they must suffer a painful process, yet they would regain the weight they’ve lost. In fact, the key points about weight management are about making persistent changes, and keeping manageable goals that can be sustained.

2. Comprehensive health concept

Only focusing on one health indicator would not reflect one’s overall health status. The definition of health includes both physiological and mental aspects, and weight is only one part of physical health. Keeping healthy living habits are more important than simply watching weight.

3. Balanced diet

The more types of food, the more extensive the substitution of nutrients, even if you don’t understand food nutrition, it is easy to supplement nutrition. Focusing too much on a certain nutrient or calories does not equate to a healthy diet.

4. Regular exercise

Studies show that the only way to maintain weight loss is to exercise regularly. Physical activity not only helps reduce calorie intake, but also reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

In addition, The Central Clinic also provides weight management plans for people with BMI above 25. Including follow-up by doctors and professional nutritionists, liver cirrhosis and whole body muscle/minor distribution scans and genetic analysis to help you understand your innate response to food, exercise and vitamins. Learn more about our Weight Management Program here.

References:

News.gov.hk – Healthier lifestyles urged

Hong Kong Economic Times – 2020/10/21 Article

新冠疫情措施下市民出行受限，外賣盛行的情況下不少人飲食習慣大改。有調查顯示調查「疫情下港人飲食習慣轉變」，發現在疫情期間市民缺乏運動和飲食失衡的情況嚴重。雙重因素下，有近逾半受訪者表示在疫情期間增磅，并此期間吃了更多零食。更有高達九成半人更表示一日吃4至5餐。

過重及肥胖在現今社會很普遍，香港衞生署人口健康調查顯示，年齡介乎15至84歲人士中，約五成屬超重或肥胖；患高血壓、糖尿病和高膽固醇血症其中一種或以上的比率為59.2%，男性體重問題比女性嚴重。肥胖會增加患上慢性疾病的風險因素，包括高血壓 、心臟病 、高膽固醇 、糖尿病和癌症等等。

你是否過胖? 

體重指數（ＢＭＩ）是量度過重和肥胖程度的其中一種方法 ，計算方法是把體重(以公斤為單位)除以身高(以米為單位)的平方，或利用地區康健中心的體重指標計算器計算。對香港成年人來說，正常ＢＭＩ指 數達於１８至２３，２５以上即屬輕微肥胖，而３０以上則為嚴重肥胖。

另一個測量人體脂肪的方法是「雙能量X光吸收」 簡稱「DEXA」(Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) 。DEXA能正確地分析身體各部位的脂肪、肌肉和骨骼成份和比例。雖然最常用於度量骨質密度，這科技也能夠有效地驗出是否患有隱性肥胖而控制體重。DEXA檢查時間短，而且輻射性低，可作定期檢查，比僅依靠BMI更為可靠。

保持理想體重是維持長遠健康的關鍵，有些人更視減肥為「終生事業」。然而坊間的體重管理資訊氾濫，有些屬誤導成分，令人對體重問題存有誤解及偏見。如果不明白食物營養及健康飲食原則，加上錯誤的減肥方法，有可能會有反效果。

健康小貼士

中環專科建議大家透過以下4個貼士來建立正面的自我價值觀并認識食物營養，以助培養持續的健康體重管理概念：

1. 照顧自身喜好

有些人盲目追逐潮流，為求達成減重目標而忽略了自身喜好及感受。甚至認為減肥過程必然痛苦導致容易出現體重反彈。其實體重管理在乎持之以恆的改變，合理的改變才容易堅持下去。

2. 全面健康觀

單一健康指標並不能反映整體健康狀況，應避免以偏概全。健康的定義包括身心兩方面，體重只是生理健康其中一環。生活習慣比體重更重要，而只著眼於體重并不夠全面。

3. 均衡飲食

健康飲食原則講求均衡及多元化。食物種類愈多，營養素的攝取愈廣泛，即使不太了解食物營養也容易攝取充足營養。過分著眼於某種營養素或卡路里並不等於健康飲食。

4. 定時運動

有證據表示，要保持體重減輕的唯一方法是進行定時運動。體能活動不單幫助減少熱量攝入，更可以減少心血管疾病、糖尿病和癌症的風險。

除此之外，中環專科亦提供體重管理計劃予BMI指標高於25的人士。計劃包括醫生及專業營養師跟進，脂肪肝及全身肌肉／脂肪分佈掃描和基因分析助你了解自己先天對食物、運動及維他命反應。點擊以下連結了解本診所的體重管理計劃。

參考資料：

香港政府新聞網 – 香港人口健康調查結果公布

香港經濟日報 – 調查顯示六成港人抗疫期間增磅　邊款零食最受歡迎？