Boots offers body mass index machine to help people find their healthy weight

A HEALTHY-Weight Check machine has been installed in the Boots store, in Minehead, as part of a nationwide ‘Know your Figure’ campaign.
The campaign aims to educate people as to how to work out the healthy weight range for their individual height and frame, rather than simply focusing on celebrity ideals, dropping dress sizes, and counting pounds and inches.
The state-of-the-art machine accurately measure Body Mass Index (BMI), body fat percentage, and weight - the new ‘vital statistics’.
Body fat is measured by a method known as ‘bioelectric impedance’, where a low level electrical signal is sent through the body by applying the palms of the hands to sensors in the handles on either side of the machine.
The signal travels more quickly through lean tissue, which contains a high percentage of water, than it does through fat tissue which has a low percentage of water.
The reading obtained is then applied to a scientific formula along with the user’s weight, height, and age, and the body fat percentage is calculated.
Weight is the indication which most people - 53 per cent of them - use to judge whether they are a healthy size, but a third still relied on whether their clothes were too tight.
The Boots campaign is being supported by singer and television presenter Louise Redknapp, who said: “My television experiment showed how dangerous trying to get to size zero can be.
“I have always felt this pressure to be thinner, and it is really important that people realise one size does not fit all and that it is being a healthy weight that counts.”
A spokesman for Boots said: “It was interesting to see that among the figures that British women most admire, the more voluptuous shapes of Kelly Brook and Marilyn Monroe sat higher than Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham.
“What we want to be clear about is that eight-and-a-half, nine or 10 stones might be healthy for one person, but over or under weight for somebody else.
“The key thing is to know your own vital statistics and that is why we are making Healthy Weight-Check machines available across the country.”
Healthy weight management is the focus of Boots’ ‘Change One Thing’ campaign this year, as 70 per cent of people who sign up for the campaign each year are trying to shift excess pounds after Christmas.
Personalised ‘Change One Thing’ action plans and experts are available in Boots stores to help customers achieve a healthy weight, stop smoking, have healthier-looking skin, and live a healthier lifestyle.
People can pick up a free action plan in the Minehead Boots store or log on to www.boots.com/changeonething for more information and to find an online buddy to help them stick to their plan.

• Our photograph shows Louise Redknapp. Photo submitted.