A slim and trim waist is more than just an attractive physical characteristic in a woman. It is a very important indicator of her current health and future chances of developing heart disease, diabetes and weight-related cancers.

You might assume that your child’s heaviest friend isn’t as healthy as his average-sized friend, or that his tiny friend isn’t getting quite enough to eat, but size isn’t always an indicator of health, according to the website, KidsHealth.

The body mass index is used to gain an idea of the amount of body fat that you have based on your height and weight. It’s used to screen for weight categories that can lead to health problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered the healthy range.

Losing weight is about shedding fat, not muscle. To maximize fat burning, you'll want to strategically combine diet and exercise. You need to reduce calorie intake enough, but not too much, and do two kinds of workouts -- high-intensity interval training and strength training.

The pineal gland, deep in the brain, is responsible for the production of melatonin, and adequate levels of melatonin are necessary for restful sleep. The body produces between 5 and 25 mcg of melatonin each night, according to the book "Melatonin."

Body composition is the makeup of fat and fat-free mass in the body. Fat-free mass is anything that is not fat and can include water, bone, muscle, and skin. Fat mass is solely fat, found on the body and throughout the organs.

Many different body shapes and sizes are healthy, so you won't find a single calculation to tell you exactly what you should weigh and what your measurements should be.

Thyroxine is the main hormone produced by the thyroid gland and what controls the body’s basal metabolic rate (BMR). A person's basal metabolic rate refers to the minimum number of calories he needs to survive in the absence of any activity.

If you're working out to build muscle, don't be upset if you don't like the number you see on the scale. While it may tell you how much you weigh, it doesn't tell you how much of that weight is muscle vs. fat. When it comes to health, body composition counts.

Your metabolism consists of the energy you use to exist, perform daily functions, exercise and digest food. Basal metabolic rate and resting metabolic rate are two different measures that tell you how many calories you burn without any extra daily activity -- as if you were lying in bed all day. You may see the terms "

Just as your car burns gasoline to move forward, your body requires energy to keep your metabolism humming. That energy comes primarily from glucose, which is stored in the body as glycogen, or from fat.

Adjusting bindings to fit different size boots is common practice among ski rental shops and people that share skis. Marker bindings have adjustments that allow you to fit boots that are both longer and wider than the average boot.