Question

Discuss how obesity affects the center of gravity and provide examples with calculations.

Answer 1

Accumulation of fat in obese person is always near high muscular area. In a human body most muscular part is near belly, hips, thighs and chest hence most mass accumulation is near these areas. These areas are mainly concentrated in upper part of the body and hence center of gravity of a person shift upward.

Let us assume a person 1.8 m in height weighing 100kg ,devide his body in 3 parts say upto chest weighing 40kg, then chest to waist weighing 20 and last below waist weighing 40kg. Now let center of gravity of bottom part is at height 0.65 m, at 1.1 m for the middle part and at 1.5 m so center of gravity of whole body is

G = (0.65×40+1.1×20+1.5×40)÷100 =1.08 m

Now let the person becomes obese and say his mass increases only at middle part uniformly. Say its middle part becomes 50 kg

So new centre of gravity will be

G` = (1.08×100+(50-20)×1.1)÷130 = 1.0846 m

It is slightly higher than the previous one