Weight Loss

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Body Mass Index (BMI) is the measurement of choice for many health care practitioners and researchers studying obesity. BMI uses a mathematical formula that takes into account both a person’s weight and height (the formula is your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared).

You can find your BMI on the chart below using your height in feet and inches and your weight in pounds.

Bear in mind that while the BMI chart can give you a rough idea of whether you’re at your optimal weight, the BMI formula does not factor your total body fat, muscle, or and water into the overall health equation. This is addressed more holistically by bioimpedence analysis models. (See our article on natural weight loss for further information.)

Some researchers observe that the waist-to-hip ratio is a more accurate means than the BMI for determining cardiovascular disease risk. Waist-to-hip ratio is easily calculated by dividing your waist measurement by your hip measurement. The cut-off limit for risk is <0.85 for women, and <0.90 and below for men. A ratio higher than these figures indicates a greater risk for cardiovascular disease.

		5'0"	5"1"	5'2"	5'3"	5'4"	5'5"	5'6"	5'7"	5'8"	5'9"	5'10"	5'11"	6'0"	6'1"	6'2"	6'3"	6'4"
	100	20	19	18	18	17	17	16	16	15	15	14	14	14	13	13	12	12
	105	21	20	19	19	18	17	17	16	16	16	15	15	14	14	13	13	13
	110	21	21	20	19	19	18	18	17	17	16	16	15	15	15	14	14	13
	115	22	22	21	20	20	19	19	18	17	17	17	16	16	15	15	25	14
	120	23	23	22	21	21	20	19	19	18	18	17	17	16	16	15	15	15
	125	24	24	23	22	21	21	20	20	19	18	18	17	17	16	16	16	15
	130	25	25	24	23	22	22	21	20	20	19	19	18	18	17	17	16	16
	135	26	26	25	24	23	22	22	21	21	20	19	19	18	18	17	17	16
	140	27	26	26	25	24	23	23	22	21	21	20	20	19	18	18	17	17
	145	28	27	27	26	25	24	23	23	22	21	21	20	20	19	19	18	18
	150	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	23	23	22	22	21	20	20	19	19	18
	155	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22	21	20	20	19	19
	160	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22	21	21	20	19
	165	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22	21	21	20
	170	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22	21	21
	175	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22	21
	180	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	23	22	22
	185	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	27	26	25	24	24	22	23
	190	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	26	26	25	24	23	23
	195	38	37	36	35	33	32	31	31	30	29	28	27	26	26	25	24	24
	200	39	38	37	35	34	33	32	31	30	30	29	28	27	26	26	24	24
	205	40	39	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	29	28	27	26	25	25
	210	41	40	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	28	27	26	26
	215	42	41	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	28	26	26
	220	43	42	40	39	38	37	36	34	33	32	32	31	30	29	28	27	27
	225	44	43	41	40	39	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	31	30	29	27	27
	230	45	43	42	41	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	30	28	28
	235	46	44	43	42	40	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	34	30	29	29
	240	47	45	44	43	41	40	39	38	36	35	34	33	33	32	31	30	29
	245	48	46	45	43	42	41	40	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	31	30
	250	49	47	46	44	43	42	40	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30

	Underweight		Weight appropriate		Overweight		Obese

Download a print version of the BMI chart in Acrobat PDF format.

Related to this article:

References & further reading on body mass index (bmi)

 

Last Modified Date: 05/25/2011