Science NIE ACTIVITY Science Matters!

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MATTERS!
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Science Center.
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The Right Weight

Written by Staff Scientist Joanna Correa, Connecticut Science Center
WORDS TO KNOW
The people on TV, movies and magazines are thin. Does that mean being thin is best?
Not necessarily. Could they be too thin? People are all different and that is why the “Right
BMI or Body Mass Index - is
Weight” will not be the same number for everybody. What the “Right Weight” means is just defined as the individual's body mass divided
an indicator that you are putting an appropriate amount of food in your body and you are
as active as your body needs to be. When people are too thin, it is like they are not putting by the square of his or her height.
enough gas in the car, and the car won’t go. If you are too thin, you may feel tired or sick and
it may be difficult to concentrate and understand things you read or think about. Kilogram - Unit of Mass in the metric System
Being fat is also not good. If you are too fat, you are heavy and it isn’t as easy to move and of measurement. The Metric System is the
to stay active. Overweight people put too much “gas” in their cars, in our comparison of gas universal scientific measuring system.
and cars to food and bodies. Your body will use only as much food as it needs, and the rest
that was not used will find a place to be stored. Moving a lot, playing, walking and running
can be done to use up all the stored “gas”, until the extra weight is gone. Dieticians - Professionals that supervise the
Now, how do we know which is the right amount of food for each person? It depends on preparation and service of food and or develop
individual factors such as the person’s height, sex, age, if they are athletes, if they are modified diets following medical standards. They
pregnant, or if they have any condition specific to them. The right amount of food for
everyone is usually recommended to people by their doctor. can also participate in nutrition research.
There are ways to make a rough estimate of what an appropriate healthy weight and healthy
amount of food could be for each person. One of these estimates is called Body Mass Index
or BMI. The BMI is a number that calculates an estimate of healthy weight for each person
according to their height. Using the metric system of units, the BMI calculates the number
that results from dividing your weight in kilograms by your squared height in meters.
The results are numbers that usually range from 18 to 30 for most people. Using BMI
estimates, healthy BMI’s range from 19 to 25. BMIs lower than 19 would indicate a person is
underweight and BMIs higher than 25 would indicate a person is overweight. BMIs in the low
or high range would certainly hint it may be a good idea to consult with a certified dietician
or nutritional doctor. However, BMI numbers are just a guidance and of course do not apply to
all people and all cases, which is why a BMI calculation should not be your only reference to
what a healthy weight for you is. For example, BMI calculations do not apply to professional
athletes or people that exercise a lot, nor do they apply to pregnant women, elderly people or
 

children. Doctors have charts that show the healthy weight ranges for everybody at every age
and height. They can recommend what you should do to make your body as healthy and happy
Student Spotlight
as it can be, and yes, you can start out by having the healthy “Right Weight” for you! Hyungju Lee, Grade 7, Hamden Middle School
To learn more about the human body and how proper exercise and nutrition can affect you,
come visit the Picture of Health Gallery and Sports Lab at the Connecticut Science Center! I learned how to make single-paper origami and wanted to challenge myself
MEET THE SCIENTIST to make many-paper, large 3-D origami sculptures. I got some ideas from
YouTube, and then started planning the shapes. I cut paper into individual
Joanna Maria Correa is a Biologist and Staff Scientist at the Connecticut rectangles with a 3 to 2 length to width ratio. I folded over 700 rectangles to
Science Center. Biology is the science concerned with the study of life and make each sculpture. The pieces are set inside each other at different angles.
living organisms. Her areas of interest and research are structure, function and
No glue is used, so it is important to plan the angles that connect each piece
evolution of living systems.
so that the weight of each section doesn’t pull the sculpture over. It takes one
to two hours to make the smaller sculptures. I like giving them away to friends.
For students who are blind, learning disabled or print challenged, visit CRIS Radio
at http://www.chrisradio.org
and click Kids On-Demand for a free audio version of Science Matters.

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