A recent survey found that almost a quarter of people in the UK are overweight, but Cancer research UK says that 25% of these people don't want to lose weight. We are actually the second fattest country in Europe, after Greece.
This is a problem for both the UK government and the life insurance industry. The UK government just announced a campaign to deal with the problem through general practitioners.
The problem is that many people still worry about how much they weigh. So sensitive that they'll tell themselves they're sticking to a diet even when it's clear they're not. People get excited when they lose a pound or two, but they don't say anything when the same two pounds come back the next day. Sounds familiar to you?
Well, telling a few lies about your real weight doesn't hurt anyone, except maybe yourself. But life insurance companies have to pay much more attention now. They think that a lot of people who apply for life insurance are lying about how much they weigh.
So, Scottish Provident, one of the biggest life insurance companies in Britain, is making its application process stricter. Now, they will not only ask applicants how much they weigh, but also when they last did so. It's a way to get applicants to give more accurate answers instead of making up a number or telling only part of the truth.
A representative for the insurance company said, "We know that most people lie about their weight, mostly because they don't want to face the truth, but there are also some people who lie to get lower premiums."
The British Medical Association calls someone "obese" if their Body Mass Index (BMI) is higher than 24. However, most insurance companies now use 30 as their definition of obesity. If you make more than that, they will raise your premium and may even ask you to get a medical exam. People who are overweight might have to pay up to 50 percent more for their life or critical illness insurance, and in the worst cases, they might not be covered at all.
So, if you want to figure out your BMI, multiply your height in metres by itself. Then divide that number by your weight in kilogrammes to get the answer. Your Body Mass Index is the number you get.
BMI has become the standard way to measure someone's weight, but it has some flaws because it doesn't take into account whether the weight is coming from fat or muscle. And a recent study of 33,000 adults, published in The Lancet, found that the "over 24" BMI definition of obesity could be changed to "over 25" without hurting health. That's the same as putting on another half stone. Their research also showed that adults whose BMI was over 35 were the only ones whose life expectancy dropped significantly.
But the life insurance industry has taken a cautious middle ground by accepting a BMI level of 30. Well, if it were your money, you probably would.
