Weight & BMI

[kags1694]

I am very concerned after reading comments about weight & BMI, we are waiting for confirmation of ITA being sent out.

Really cornered I am very overweight, but healthy
Is is going to cause us problems

Are we going to be turned down?

Can’t sleep, I would not like to be the reason why we cannot move to NZ.


Help

[jamie7121]

I am very concerned after reading comments about weight & BMI, we are waiting for confirmation of ITA being sent out.

Really cornered I am very overweight, but healthy
Is is going to cause us problems

Are we going to be turned down?

Can’t sleep, I would not like to be the reason why we cannot move to NZ.


Help

From what i can gather, if your BMI is over 35 then they will request further tests for things such as diabetes etc. It doesnt mean you will be refused. They are just trying to calculate if you will cost the NZ health service a lot of money in the future. Even if you are going to cost the health service a lot they can offer you a medical waiver, others on the forum will tell you more about this as my knowledge is sketchy. In the meantime if you can get your BMI down a bit then it is advisable but dont lose sleep over it. All the best

[Helsandfamily]

Hi there,

There has been a number of threads on this so using the search function may be useful. As already stated they do a few further checks (Lipids and liver funtion I think & maybe cholesteerol)

I think they may ask you to fast for a number of hours (poss 12) before attending the medical, so if you think your BMI is over 35 then it could be worth checking with the DR before attending, or you may have to return to the surgery after fasting, which would be a real pain, especially if you have to go a long way.

The other reason that they do more tests is if your waist measurement is too big, so again it could be worth checking that with the dr before attending if you think that you will fall into that catagory.

Good luck ( I hated the medical but it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.)

Hels

[Supadolphin]

Hi there

Please don't worry about BMI too much. If you have time get your weight down then all the better (you will feel much better too ). You should be able to find some recent threads on this which will help if you use the search engine. Feel free to PM me as I went threw the mill on this one myself and came through fine.

I am having trouble sleeping now because I'm in the midst in getting our stuff shipped out and arranging the big move - all on my own with no hubby cos he's already in NZ. I just hope I manage to get in a better sleep routine when we all arrive.

Debs

[mgbridges]

I knew for a fact before my medical that my BMI was over 35 so expected them to ask for extra blood tests. As I didn't know what they would be I just went along for the medical and then ended up going back 3 days later for them to take all my bloods in one go so that I could fast. I had to not eat anything from midnight the night before (my appointment was at 9am), some docs ask you not to eat from 8pm the night before.

They took enough blood to do all the standard screening required by NZ immigration and then extra for fasting Lipits (sp?) and fasting glucose tests.

All my results came back absolutely fine despite my Mum being Type 2 diabetic and me being on the verge of gestational diabetes during pregnancy.

Basically don't panic, you'll probably have to do the fasting blood tests but assuming they come back OK you'll be fine.

Good luck!
Anneliese

[kags1694]

Just to thank you all for your reassuring comments

[DJNinNZ]

Hi,
don't worry too much about the BMI figure. I knew I would be borderline or over and knew they would then probably ask for more blood tests after fasting. As my appointment was in the afternoon I made sure I had a very light early breakfast, ie a piece of fruit and they took the extra blood for the tests as part of the normal medical. They of course charge for the extra blood tests at £20 a pop.

I passed the medical and now have a residency visa and will land in Wellington on 29th September.

My advice for the medical is that if you have any medical history get a copy of your GP's notes to take with you.

Good Luck

DJNinNZ

[pinkpiggy]

Hi

We've been in NZ for some 8 weeks now and my BMI is definitely over 35. I just rang the doctor a couple of days before the appointment and we agreed that I would fast from 9pm the night before.

Other than doing the extra blood test there is nothing different on the medical. In fact all my liver functions, lipids etc. came back as being better than OH whose BMI is fine.

So don't worry about the medical just think of it as being a 'very expensive' checkup.

[Lupin]

Mine was over too so I arranged to have bloods done with my GP before the medical so that I could take the results with me. My results were very normal indeed and I left the medical with my form in my hand all done

Try not to worry about it, although I know that's easier said than done as I did.