How To Calculate Body Mass Index

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The body mass index is one of the most accurate tools of calculating your height and weight and drawing a comparison between the two. This helps a person to find out whether he/she is healthy, overweight or underweight.

A value between 18 and 25 means that your weight is normal. Anything over this could put you at risk of obesity. A BMI (Body Mass Index) of less than 18 means that you are underweight. Here are some of the steps that you have to follow in order to calculate your BMI.

Take Your Weight

One of the foremost steps in calculating the BMI is making an accurate assessment of your weight. Weigh yourself early in the morning on an electronic weighing scale. Manual weighing scales do not always show the accurate weight. If the scales are in kilograms, you will have to convert your weight into pounds by multiplying your weight in kilograms by 2.2. This will be your weight in pounds.

Measure Your Height

The next step in calculating your BMI is taking your height. For this, you will have to take someone’s help. Stand against a wall with bare feet. Ask someone to mark your height for you on the wall. Now using an inch tape calculate your height in inches. For instance, a person whose height is 5.3 will be 163 inches tall.

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The Calculation

Take a pencil and paper and begin calculating your BMI. The basic formula for calculating BMI is weight in pounds divided by height in inches squared and this number is multiplied by 700. The final figure will be your BMI. For example, a person who weighs 100 pounds and stands 60 inches tall will have a BMI of 19.684.

Assess Your BMI

Once you have the final figure, you can assess your BMI in terms of normal weight range and how you stand in comparison with others. A BMI of 19.684 is considered normal for your height. This means that you are essentially in the healthy weight range and are neither underweight nor overweight. This also means that you need to follow a moderate diet and exercise plan in order to maintain the weight. A BMI that is greater than 30 indicates that you are morbidly obese. This is a critical weight range and needs immediate dietary and medical intervention.

The Importance Of The BMI

The BMI was first discovered by Adolph Quetelet, a Belgian statistician and was initially known as the body mass indicator. The BMI is significant as it tells you the kind of lifestyle that you are leading and whether or not you are prone to obesity. The more sedentary your lifestyle, the higher will be your score.

It is an important tool to assess your overall health parameters and can help you to make a concerted decision with regard to weight loss. Once the BMI has been calculated you can develop a weight loss or weight gain programme for yourself. Generally it has been seen that it is much easier to maintain a weight especially if it is within the healthy BMI range.

Photo Credit: Drug-free-natural-health.com/weight-loss.html

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