BMI - Body Mass Index

What is the BMI?

BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is one way to establish whether a person is overweight, underweight or the correct weight for their height and age. BMI analyzes height and weight; muscle mass is not a part of the equation.

How Calculate your BMI

The BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by his or her height in meters, squared. You can also calculate your BMI by multiplying weight in pounds by 705, then dividing by height in inches twice.

For example: if you weigh 70kg, and you are 1.75m tall, your BMI would be 22.9 (70/1.75 = 40 and 40/1.75 = 22.9).

What Is a Healthy BMI?

  • A person with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered to be at a healthy weight.
  • A person with a BMI of 25-29.9 is considered overweight.
  • A BMI over 30 is considered obese.
  • A BMI of 40 or above indicates that a person is obese.

If you are categorized in the obese category, your risk of death will increase from any cause by 50%-150%.

The Risks of a High BMI.

The higher the BMI, the greater you are at risk for developing serious conditions and illnesses. These conditions and diseases include:

  • High blood pressure.
  • Coronary artery disease.
  • Stroke.
  • Osteoarthritis.
  • Some types of cancers such as breast and colon cancer.
  • Type 2 diabetes.
  • Emotional problems such as low-self esteem and depression.

Working out your BMI

Examples of body mass indexes

Weight (Pounds) Height (Feet and Inches)
5'0" 5'3" 5'6" 5'9" 6'0" 6'3"
140 27 25 23 21 19 18
150 29 27 24 22 20 19
160 31 28 26 24 22 20
170 33 30 28 25 23 21
180 35 32 29 27 25 23
190 37 34 31 28 26 24
200 39 36 32 30 27 25
210 41 37 34 31 29 26
220 43 39 36 33 30 28
230 45 41 37 34 31 29
240 47 43 39 36 33 30
250 49 44 40 37 34 31

If you need guidance about how to lose weight safely, you should also make an appointment to see your general practitioner. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding this system is not going to give you accurate results. You may want to consider calculating your BMI after your pregnancy or breastfeeding is finished.

Children and the BMI

This tool works well for children ages two through nineteen. Be careful if you use this tool or any height and weight charts to assess your child's growth after he or she reaches puberty. This tool looks at your child's weight and height, and then compares your child's size to that of other boys or girls of the same age. Remember, not all children are the same. Some are biologically larger and some are biologically smaller. Your child's size is given two numbers-a BMI value and its percentile. The percentile is the number that ranks your child's size among other children of the same gender and age.

What is most important is that your child is at the same percentile over time, so it takes several measurements to assess your child's growth. You should keep your doctor updated if your child suddenly shifts up or down in percentile. Your doctor can give you steps to take to help your child reach and stay at a healthy weight.

Some interesting facts that you should be aware about:

  • Researchers are finding that the fat around your waist is more accurate measure of future health risk than BMI. Having too much fat around your middle is associated with an increased risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.
  • A greater risk of high cholesterol levels is related to individuals who have an excess amount of fat around their waist. This can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
  • Fat around the waist greater than 32 inches for women and 37 inches for men increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks, stroke, and diabetes.
  • The greatest risk is for women who carry waist measurement of more than 35 inches and men with a waist measurement of more than 40 inches.

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