Body Mass Index (bmi): Are You At A Healthy Weight?

The body mass index, or BMI, helps clarify an important distinction between being overweight or being obese. If you weigh too much, you’re obviously overweight. But if you have a very high proportion of body fat, you’re obese. Based on your body mass index, your doctor or other health professional will classify your weight as healthy, overweight, or obese.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the BMI “describes body weight relative to height and is correlated with total body fat content in most adults”. In almost all cases, this means that the BMI will accurately reflect your weight and proportion of body fat as a function of your height and weight when categorizing you as healthy, overweight or obese.

Calculating your approximate body mass index is relatively straightforward, although you’ll probably need a calculator just to save time. To get your BMI, multiply your weight in pounds by 703. Next, divide that result by your height in inches. Then divide that result by your height in inches one more time.

As an example, let’s say you weigh 180 pounds and are 5 feet 10 inches tall.

Multiply 180 by 703 to get 126,540. Next, divide this by 70 (70 inches is the same as 5′ 10″) to get 1807.7. Now, divide 1807.7 by 70 one more time. The result — 25.8– is your approximate BMI or body mass index. If you don’t have a calculator handy, you can get the same result using the free interactive BMI calculator at www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm.

If the above example sounds you, you might be surprised to learn that you’re ever so slightly heavier than your doctor might like. A BMI from 18.5 up to 25 is considered healthy, from 25 up to 30 is classified as overweight, and 30 or higher is obese.

Generally, says the NHLBI, the higher a person’s BMI, the greater the risk for health problems. In addition to causing your BMI to skyrocket, excess body fat is a well recognized health risk. Men and women with waist lines in excess of 40 and 35 inches, respectively, are much more at risk for health problems like Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Like every rule of thumb, this one also has it exception. Body builders, for example, often have a body mass index above 25 and sometimes even above 30. In this case, however, the higher BMI reflects the fact that body builders have more muscle mass without having more fat.

Finally, there’s still only one sure way to lower your BMI if you’re overweight or obese: Eat less and exercise more. Your body will burn more calories than you eat and your body mass index will go down over time.

Related articles from around the web:

University apologizes for using medical records to target ‘fat’ students with weight loss program Bryn Mawr emailed invitations to join a university-sponsored weight loss program to students with “elevated” BMIs.
Some students who had previously been treated at the school for eating disorders reportedly received the email.
Bryn Mawr College has issued an apology to students after sending an email many perceived as “fat-shaming.”
The all-women’s liberal …

Plant-based diet may reduce obese children’s risk of heart disease (Cleveland Clinic) Obese children who begin a low-fat, plant-based vegan diet may lower their risk of heart disease through improvements in their weight, blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol levels, insulin sensitivity, and high-sensitivity C-reactive, according to Cleveland Clinic research published online today by The Journal of Pediatrics. …

Day to Save: Free Health Screenings at San Diego Blood Bank For the first time, the San Diego Blood Bank will offer free health screenings. You don’t even have to give blood. Checkups on cholesterol, blood sugar, body mass index and blood pressure will be available without charge from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, at the San Diego …

Plant-based diet may reduce obese children’s risk of heart disease Obese children who begin a low-fat, plant-based vegan diet may lower their risk of heart disease through improvements in their weight, blood pressure, body mass index, cholesterol levels, insulin sensitivity, and high-sensitivity C-reactive, according to Cleveland Clinic research published online today by The Journal of Pediatrics. …

Medical Mystery: Woman Becomes Obese After Fecal Transplant – ABC News The unnamed woman weighed 136 pounds — but gained 34 pounds over the next 16 months — going from a healthy body mass index to an obese one, according to a case study published in an Oxford Journal called Open Forum for Infectious Diseases.
via abcnews.go.com
Oh. Maybe it’s not such a …

More topics: Body Mass Index, Bmi, Body Mass Index Calculator, Bmi Calculator, Body mass index, Obesity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health, Health department, Parent, Percentile, Puerto Rico, Teacher, Associated Press,

Image credits:
Body mass index showing that typical Okinawans at 18 or 22 are under or normal weight (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: The graph shows the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (%BF) for men in NCHS’ NHANES III 1994 data. The body fat percent shown uses the method from Romero-Corral et al. to convert NHANES BIA to %BF (June 2008). ”Accuracy of body mass index in diagnosing obesity in the adult general population”. International Journal of Obesity 32 (6) : 959 € “956. DOI:10.1038/ijo.2008.11. PMID 18283284. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)