For example, for most people, BMI is a good way to assess their body fat, excess weight, and health risks. But BMI is not accurate for those who are muscular, short, or elderly. For example, a person who is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds with 12% body fat would be considered obese based on BMI standards. Obviously, a person with 12% body fat is not obese. To establish your risk of obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, it is best to consider BMI as well as waist circumference. To reduce the risk of obesity-related diseases, people with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 and 30 to 34.9 should have a waist circumference no greater than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men. So yes, you can be overweight and healthy, according to the National Institutes of Health's 1998 report, Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Assessment, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. Overweight people can be considered healthy if their waist circumference is less than 35 inches for women or 40 inches for men, and if they do not have at least two of the following conditions: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol levels. The guidelines emphasize that overweight people should not gain extra weight and should preferably lose a few pounds. Other risk factors, such as smoking, also influence whether a