importance of forests
Forests are not a ‘fringe element’ or ‘extra fitting’. Nor are they dead zones. Parks, estates, pasture land, forests and woodlands are key elements in our natural protection against extreme natural events. Loss of green cover in the garb of infrastructure development is a step towards self-destruction (page 1, “Objections dismissed, Forest Bill unchanged in House” July 10).
P. David Balasingh,
Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu
yuan and pay
Paul Krugman recently wrote in the NYT that despite all the big talk about China’s yuan looming large in world trade and threatening the US dollar, there has been no change in the dollar’s share of world trade and needs over the past 20 years. There has been no significant decline. Along with its partner currencies, the dollar virtually dominates world trade and reserves. China has recently appeared on the horizon. The role of the yuan in payments by India, Brazil, Russia and Argentina is just a ripple in world trade.
M. Balakrishnan,
Bangalore
governor’s office
Excerpt on the issue of abolishing the post of Governor (‘From the Archives’, 10 July 1973, “Governor’s post: T’Nadu petition demands abolition”), ironically very relevant in today’s politics. are marked by bitterness. The government at the center is trying its best to destroy the democratic process by using governors as political weapons. There should be checks and balances on the conduct of governors. Only then will cooperative federalism flourish, as envisaged in the Constitution.
R Shivakumar,
Chennai
It is ironical that even in 1973, Tamil Nadu advocated the abolition of the post of Governor.
It is unfortunate that the governors seem to be agents of the Center and are not working as per the constitutional guidelines. It is in the interest of democracy to end this undesirable game of supremacy.
Mohammad Ikramullah,
Hyderabad
measure waist
Article, “Reevaluate What Your BMI Says About Your Health”, Science page), which was on the use of body mass index (BMI) to assess health, is interesting reading. While all of the facts mentioned are true and BMI is indeed a poor index of one’s body fat, unfortunately, the article does not describe what an alternative might be.
A simple waist measurement can give more information about someone’s obesity, as an increase in abdominal circumference always means an increase in body fat, due to pregnancy, large abdominal tumors, or cirrhosis of the liver. Except in some situations like liquids. Etcetera. Waist circumference greater than 90 cm in men and more than 80 cm in women is considered to be evidence of abdominal obesity. Some other indices that are used are waist-hip ratio where waist is divided by hip, and waist-height ratio, where waist is divided by height.
Both of these are also useful. However, this now means that two measurements are needed and when two measurements are taken there is a high chance of error, especially waist-hip, as measuring the hip would mean undressing the person, while measuring the waist can still be measured. Wear light clothes. The advantage of measuring waist circumference over BMI is that BMI requires both a stadiometer to measure height and a weighing machine to measure weight, and both need to be standardized. Weighing scales can sometimes be inaccurate. The waist on the other hand requires only an inch-tape which is shown in the picture as in the article, but not described in the article.
Studies over the past 20 years by our group and others have shown that BMI is a poorer index of metabolic health than waist. Clinics and hospitals should start regularly measuring a person’s waist as this can give a lot of information.
However, a word of caution. If the waist measurement is not done properly, it can also lead to serious errors. An easier way to measure the waist would be at the level of the navel. However, in very obese people, the navel tends to slide down and the correct way to measure the waist is to take the midpoint between the lower edge of the last rib (the lowest point) and the crest of the ilium (the top of the hip bone). ,
In short, a simple waist measurement gives you more reliable information about obesity than BMI.
Dr. V. Mohan,
President,
Dr. Mohan Diabetologist Centre,
Chennai