Be big but not that big.

After being born, acquiring sufficient correct nutrients to grow so as to have the best possible bone density and the best possible healthy growth of the various organs, is important to reach the best physical potential any individual is capable of.

When it comes to bone density, I am not saying it is desirable to have big bones. Gymnast, for instance, need to be strong and powerful but not big boned or too tall. A wrestler must have the maximam weight and the thickness of skeleton to combine with their power and practised skills to excel. So, it depends.

To develop physically, this has to be done before the approximate age of thirty, after which nothing much can be done. After that age, it is only possible to maintain whatever has been developed.

To achieve our goal of giving maximum possible physical growth to our children, they can be allowed to be plump but not so overweight that there is no possibility of the condition being reversed as they become teenagers.

Being overweight has nothing to do with size. A stout person is often seen to be big but is not necessarily overweight.

Overweight or the better word for it, obesity, means having an amount of excessive fat being lugged around by our body and hampering our organ's work twenty four hours a day.

In their teens, our children may gradually realise that the extra weight they carry around can be a disadvantage. They can be clumsy and are not able to participate in some of the more vigorous activities of their peers.

However, if obesity is still at a low level and if our young adults are habitually active, it may not present any problem.

As they grow older, their problems with too much weight may become more noticeable. Some may have to start seeing their doctors more often with diabetes or some kind of heart disease.

According to the latest research, excess fat comes not so much from consuming fats as from consuming too much carbohydrates. The experts tell us people who consume fats do not feel as hungry as often as those who consume carbohydrates. That is because fats is not as easily digestible as carbohydrates. Also due to this reason, easily digested carbohydrates make us feel hungry sooner. In the process, we take in more food which means more calories, causing more blood sugar leading eventually to diabetes.

For young adults burdened with excessive weight, unless they do vigorous walking or running regularly at least three times a week to bring down their weight, their weight will increase with our age.

When weight is borne by their skeletons to wherever they go, certain parts of the skeleton like the spine and the rib-care will have to suffer. To remain upright and straight becomes a heavy task for the spine. That is why older men and women who are too fat hunch more than their peers as they age. Not only that, there could also be pain as gravity and weight presses down on each and every vetebrae, perhaps pinching some nerves in the process. Having to support too much fat around it, the rib cage suffers and that is the reason some fat old people complain of pain at their sides, near the ribs.

The joints suffer too when excessive weight is put onto them in every move they take. With more pressure on them, they will wear out faster.

With too much fat around the organs, the lungs have to struggle to breathe, the heart has a tough time pumping blood to every part of the body.

With fat around our organs and body, movement is bound to become more and more limited and it is just a matter of time for fat to beat any will-power a person may need to overcome it unless we set out with determination to beat it before it does.

Prevention is the best way to ensure such hardships which impede movement does not become our misery; with such impediment further aggravating the situation with even less movement can only mean less calories burnt. With hardly any brisk movement, energy is barely used up and excess fat builds up; each day fat is added as almost the same amount of food is usually consumed although there is less activity.

Any preventive steps must be taken as early as possible as age can sap us of our strength, mobility, metabolism and almost everything needed to overcome obesity.