UVM is partnering with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont to promote the "Know Your Numbers" wellness initiative. This campaign is encouraging biometric screenings among all faculty and staff. Screenings measure four sets of numbers: blood pressure, cholesterol, non-fasting glucose and body mass index. Here is some basic information to explain why these last two measurements are important:

Blood Sugar/Glucose

Everyone’s blood has some sugar in it because your body needs sugar for energy. When you eat, your body breaks food down into sugar and sends it into your bloodstream. Then, your pancreas makes insulin to help get the sugar from the blood into the cells for energy needed in your daily life. Diabetes may result if you have high blood sugar levels that result from defects in your body's ability to produce and/or use insulin.

Diabetes is often called the “silent killer” because its symptoms may go unnoticed until one or more of the complications related to the disease occur.

A blood glucose screening measures the amount of glucose, a type of sugar, in your blood. This type of screening checks for diabetes and abnormally low blood sugar levels.

Desirable:  70-125mg/dL (random blood sugar test—regardless of when you last ate)

Body Mass Index (BMI)

If you've been thinking about your current weight, it may be because you've noticed a change in how your clothes fit, or your doctor has told you that you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol and that excessive weight could be a contributing factor. The first step is to assess whether or not your current weight is healthy.

One way to begin to determine whether your weight is a healthy one is to calculate your body mass index (BMI). For most people, BMI is a reliable indicator of body fatness and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems, such as hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It is calculated based on your height and weight.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers the following adult BMI ranges:

• If your BMI is less than 18.5, it falls within the "underweight" range.
• If your BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, it falls within the "normal" or Healthy Weight range.
• If your BMI is 25.0 to 29.9, it falls within the "overweight" range.
• If your BMI is 30.0 or higher, it falls within the "obese" range.

"Underweight," "normal," "overweight," and "obese" are all labels for ranges of weight. Obese and overweight describe ranges of weight that are greater than what is considered healthy for a given height, while underweight describes a weight that is lower than what is considered healthy. If your BMI falls outside of the "normal" or Healthy Weight range, you may want to talk to your doctor or health care provider about how you might achieve a healthier body weight. Being overweight has been shown to increase the likelihood of certain diseases and other health problems.

At an individual level, BMI can be used as a screening tool but is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual. A trained healthcare provider should perform appropriate health assessments in order to evaluate an individual's health status and risks.