BMI (BODY MASS INDEX) CALCULATOR

What is BMI?

Body mass index, or BMI, is used to determine whether you are in a healthy weight range for your height.

A BMI of 25.0 or more is overweight, while the healthy range is 18.5 to 24.9. BMI applies to most adults 18-65 years.

Although BMI has limitations in that it is an estimate that cannot take body composition into account, it can be used as a general indicator of a healthy body weight based on a person's height. The value obtained from the calculation of BMI is widely used to categorize whether a person is underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese depending on what range the value falls between. These ranges of BMI vary based on factors such as region and age, and are sometimes further divided into subcategories such as severely underweight or very severely obese. However, due to a wide variety of body types as well as distribution of muscle, bone mass, and fat, BMI should be considered along with other measurements rather than being used as the sole method for determining a person's "healthy" body weight.

Why isn't BMI used for muscle builders, long-distance athletes, pregnant women, the elderly or young children?

BMI is not used for muscle builders, long distance athletes, pregnant women, the elderly or young children. This is because BMI does not take into account whether the weight is carried as muscle or fat, just the number. Those with a higher muscle mass, such as athletes, may have a high BMI but not be at greater health risk. Those with a lower muscle mass, such as children who have not completed their growth or the elderly who may be losing some muscle mass may have a lower BMI. During pregnancy and lactation, a woman's body composition changes, so using BMI is not appropriate.