By - Afrida Nabiha
Are you wondering if you recently gained some weight or are these simply just your curves? People usually fail to make a difference between curvy and fat. There is a huge difference between being curvy and fat. Some medical issues come when you try to discriminate between curvy and fat.
Once you get to know about the basic reason behind a person being curvy or fat, you will easily differentiate between them. Is it bad to be curvy? Perhaps not, but being fat may not be a good idea.
There’s a difference between curvy and fat. And medical science explained it precisely. The causes, side effects and maintenance of life of a curvy or fat person will explain how they are significantly different from one another.
I will love to know what do you think about Kim Kardashian? Curvy or fat?
Table of Content
What Does “Fat” Mean?
When someone is called fat then it usually means that they have gained more weight than normal. That is they are slightly more healthy than they should have been according to their age, height, and stature. According to medical science, the person may be called overweight or obese.
To measure the health of an individual, and if they are underweight, normal, overweight, or obese according to their height and weight, BMI is calculated.
What is BMI?
BMI stands for body mass index. This is a measurement of an individual’s body fat, usually adult men, and women according to their height and weight. The formula of BMI is:
BMI= weight (in kg)/ (height in metre)2
Here, the weight of an individual is to be measured by a weighing machine on the scale of the kilogram. The height is to be measured in a meter. Then, the height is to be squared. By dividing the calculated weight with height in a meter squared, we will get the BMI of a person.
To know if a person is underweight, normal, overweight, or obese, we will have to calculate their BMI. There is a range of BMI that helps to denote the body fat of an individual. This is given below:
Normal range= 18.5 – 24.9
Overweight= 25.0 – 29.9
Obese= > 30.0
By calculating one’s BMI and matching them with this chart, they can get to know about the condition of their body fat. However, it won’t tell you the difference between curvy and fat.
Importance of BMI in identifying the risk factors of obesity comorbidity
You should know that with weight gain and obesity comes various risk factors and complications. Obesity may cause diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, high cholesterol level, etc.
There are a few stages of gaining weight. The risk factors of suffering from these diseases are not the same in all the stages. For this reason, one should try to know the condition of their body and know their BMI so that they can know the risk they have of suffering from this disease.
From the BMI chart we can know that a person who has a BMI range from 18.5-24.9, they are healthy and have adequate body fat required, not more or less than normal.
They have a negligible risk of suffering from any disease. A person who has a BMI ranging from 25.0-29.9 has gained weight more than normal. Their risk factor of having a disease is mildly increased.
An individual having a BMI of more than 30.0 falls under the category of obese. They have a high risk of suffering from the disease. There are three classes of obesity.
In first-class obesity the risk factors are moderate. The risk factors are severe in the second class. In this stage one should start eating healthy and modify their lifestyle or else they will surely suffer from a disease.
The third and final stage of obesity has a very severe risk of having diseases. This is also known as morbid obesity. In this stage, one should seek proper treatment from the physician. They should modify their lifestyle immediately and take the medications that are prescribed for them.
Modification of lifestyle For Fat People
People who are gaining weight and are on the verge of becoming fat or obese should try to modify their lifestyle to lead a healthier life and remain free from diseases. An obese person should try to lead their lives in such a way that will help them to lose weight.
Before getting overwhelmed about the ‘difference between curvy and fat’, they can try to do the followings:
1) Maintain a Balanced Diet
A balanced diet is a diet that contains all the nutrients required for the body in an inadequate amount in each meal of the day. A balanced diet should contain a sufficient amount of carbohydrates, protein, fat, minerals, and vitamins.
A diet should contain a sufficient amount of rice, bread (for carbohydrates), fish, meat, egg (for protein), fruits, and vegetables (for minerals and vitamins).
An individual should also drink plenty of water. Water makes a person feel full and as a result, helps to avoid overeating. Also, water helps in metabolism so a person can lose weight faster.
Furthermore, one should try to avoid drinking cold drinks or alcohol. These drinks contain the amount of carbohydrate that causes excessive weight gain. So, if an individual avoids this then they can lose weight easily.
2) Regular Physical Activity
Every human being should try to be physically active. This helps an individual to lead a healthier life physically, mentally, and spiritually.
A person should try to take part in a minimum amount of physical activity daily. It doesn’t have to be heavy exercise like weight-lifting, hiking, swimming, etc. It can be easy and gentle exercises such as walking, jogging, running, cycling, home workouts, etc.
Doing heavy exercises from time to time will cause no harm. These exercises help the heart and the lungs to function properly.
The amount of exercise required to lose weight varies from one person to another. This depends on various factors such as the physique of the person, the metabolic activity of a person, genetics, etc. for some people exercising four times a week is enough whereas some people have to exercise regularly.
One can start with a small amount of exercise and gradually increase the number of exercises. This will help their body with regular exercise.
If a person starts with a hard exercise then their body will not be able to cope up with it and will end up causing tiredness and fatigue. Slowly shifting from gentle exercises to heavy exercises will help a person build up their strength.
Exercise helps to burn up the extra calories of our body and thus helps us lose weight and remain healthy. Other than exercises a person can also take part in physical activity by changing their lifestyle.
For example, walking home from work, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, trying to stretch throughout the day, etc.
3) Try to adopt healthy eating habits
A person should try to know their eating pattern to know what makes them gain weight and change it accordingly.
For example, some people tend to eat more when they are stressed, tense, or under pressure. This results in weight gain.
One’s emotions greatly affect their food habits. So, a person should try to recognize these and take food accordingly.
Strictly following a certain eating pattern will help an individual reduce weight. Research says that if a person maintains daily exercise and proper food habits, they will lose weight effectively and more easily. So, one should try to focus on both these aspects.
4) Drugs and Medication
If a person becomes obese due to hormones and genetics then the physicians prescribe them various types of medications that will help them to bring their weight under control.
These medications usually help to accelerate metabolism so that excess calories or fat are not stored in the body resulting in weight gain to realise the difference between curvy and fat.
Most of the drugs prescribed to lose weight work by reducing appetite and creating the feeling of fullness with a small intake of food. As a result, a person becomes unwilling to take food. These medications also act by decreasing the absorption of fat in the body.
These medications are prescribed in small doses. They rarely have any side effects but if it is possible to avoid these medicines then it is best for the body.
5) Motivation and determination
A person should be highly motivated to lose weight to make the process easy. Losing weight can be a long process. It takes a long time to see the results. One should be patient and keep themselves determined enough to go through the entire process.
After a person successfully loses weight, the job is not over. They have to maintain this weight by regular gentle physical activity and healthy eating patterns or else they might gain weight again.
What is Curvy?
Now that we have known about what people mean when they say fat, let us know what is considered curvy. The term “curvy” means having a lot of curves.
For example, when a person, especially a woman is called curvy it means that she has curves. Due to having curves, some parts of the body seem broader and bulkier than the rest of the body.
Different people have different amounts of curves. This depends on various factors such as genetics, the fat compartment in the body, the amount and type of physical activity done by an individual, the type of food taken by an individual, etc. The factors that affect an individual to be curvy are given below:
1) Genetics
How curvy an individual is going to be can be determined by their genetics. If a mother is a lean and less curvy build then their daughter will have a similar body structure. Whereas, if a mother is curvy then their daughter will look similar. This completely depends on genes and hereditary material.
2) Fat compartment in the body
Women’s body stores are more fat than a man’s body. Women have more adipose tissue than men. This is due to the pear-shaped fat distribution in a woman’s body.
This occurs due to the morphological and metabolic structure of adipose tissue. There are fat compartments around the hip and chest area of a woman which causes the curvy appearance of the body.
3) Type of food taken by an individual
Intake of fatty foods such as nuts, almonds, oily fishes, etc. can cause weight gain in specific areas of the body making a person curvy. The maintenance of a special diet can help a person become less or more curvy.
The Main Difference Between Curvy And Fat
There is a fine line between being curvy and fat. So, you can say I’m fat but not curvy and vice versa. Let’s take a look at the difference between being fat and being curvy.
To differentiate between whether a person is curvy or fat can be determined by calculating the BMI of an individual. However, this criteria won’t work while discrminating curvy vs skinny.
A person might be curvy but their BMI can be within the normal range. So that person cannot be called fat. Being curvy is not fat.
A person especially a woman becomes curvy due to various reasons as described above which might not be associated with being fat or obese. People usually confuse these two due to appearance.
A curvy person appears to be broad and bulkier, like a fat person. Generally, that is why people tend to confuse between curvy and fat and compare fat vs curvy.
The FAQs About Curvy and Fat
Why are women curvier than men?
Women are curvier than men because they have a higher percentage of body fat than men. They have a curvy body type. The body of a woman stores fat in the gluteal-femoral region whereas the man’s body stores fat in the abdominal region.
This occurs due to the difference between regional fatty acid storage, mobilization of fat, and oxidation of fat. The catecholamine leg-free fatty acid is released less in men than in women. Then again basal fat oxidation is lower in females than in males. For these reasons, women are curvier than men and definition of curvy woman.
Why do women have more body fat than men?
Women store more body fat than men due to the presence of more adipose tissue. A woman’s body has comparatively more adipose tissue than a man’s. As a result, adipose fat is present more in women than men causing them to have more stored body fat.
Are there any risk factors for curvy people?
Curvy is a body type. It does not come with any side effects or medical problems if a person maintains a healthy lifestyle. As long as a person has BMI within the normal range it would not matter if a person is curvy or fat. The main aim is to stay healthy. If a person is properly leading their life with a sufficient amount of care to their body, then that person is free from any sort of risks.
Conclusion
To lead a healthy life a person should be aware of all the body types so that they can take action accordingly. One should know which food is good for their body, what kind of exercise their body can adapt to, what is their BMI, what is the difference between curvy and fat, what are the risk factors of their body type, etc.
Patience, motivation, and determination to stay healthy and lead a life free from any complications will surely help you achieve your health standards. A proper lifestyle will not only enhance your physical capability but also help you flourish in life.
