Body Mass Index Guide

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is the standardized, universally acclaimed method of determining weight. To determine whether a person is obese, overweight, having normal weight or less than normal is determined not only by the weight of that person, but that also requires the height of that subject. It is likely for a strong, well-built person with minimal body fat to be recognized as obese using the Body Mass Index guide. On the contrary, a lean and thin person would be classified as normal or overweight, considering his height.

An organization in Belgium “Belgian Polymath Adolphe Quetelet” formulated the Body Mass Index equation incidentally when they were preparing some articles regarding “Social Physics” in between 1830 and 1850.

The Body Mass Index formula utilizes your body weight and height. It is estimated by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters. The BMI metric formula is:

- your weight (in kilograms) divided by your height (in meters) squared, OR
- your weight / (Your Height)²

The British formula of BMI is-

your weight (in Pounds) multiplied by 704.50 divided by your height (in inches).

BMI started getting popularity during the early 1950. It was on heavy demand since 1960 as obesity started to become noticeable concern in the affluent Western society. BMI became an easy tool to measure whether a person is fat or thin. This let the health care personals to talk about diseases arising out over and under-weight problems more clearly with their patients.

Later, the craze of BMI had reduced, as doctors were not agreed to rely on the pure mathematical approach of the calculation. They were commenting that a person is always varied to his counterpart in every respect, even when their height and weight remain the same. So they were not relying up on BMI while diagnose a case.

However, the purpose of inventing BMI was never the same. It was a simple tool of categorizing physically less active (sedentary) persons having an ideal body weight and height.

To calculate BMI in children, the process is slightly different. It is, although just the same calculations like the adult’s, considers the ideal values for other children of same age. Instead of defining the BMI accurately, it defines the range or Percentile. It helps to compare with the other children of same age and sex. A BMI, which is more than 95^th percentile, is considered as overweight and less than 5^th percentile is considered underweight.

To determine whether your BMI is healthy or not, please refer to the following guideline-

If your BMI is less than 19, you are considered as underweight.

If your BMI is in between 19 to 24.9, you have a healthy, acceptable weight.

If your BMI is more than 25 but less than 29.9, you are judged as overweight. You are at a potential risk for developing health hazards like many cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and hypertension. You should consider losing some weight to avoid future health problems.

If the BMI crosses 30, you are stamped as obese. Obesity is related with increased risk of hypertension, Coronary Artery Disease, Heart attack, Cerebral thrombosis, Diabetes and several other diseases. Obese persons have a greater risk of having those said problem as high as 50-150 percent. Obese persons must lose weight to maintain a healthy life.