What is the Importance of Body Mass Index ?
BMI (Body Mass Index) is a statistic that is used to determine the degree of obesity. A simple formula can be used to compute it:
** weight in kg / height in meter square
BMI = KG/M²
BMI to Weigh : Calculator
This formula is easily found on the internet, and several calculators are available. You could just enter your criteria into those calculators to determine your BMI. How do you make sense of your BMI once you have it?
Hence it is important to understand what is the normal body mass index for a person. Body mass index can actually vary between different geographical regions. What is normal for Americans may not be normal for us.
The body mass index which is considered the range that is considered normal for Indian patients or Asian patients is basically 18.5 to 24.9. If your body mass index falls between this range then you would be considered to have normal BMI or normal weight and if your BMI is more than 25.0 then you would fall under the overweight category.
WEIGHT STANDARD BMI
Underweight Below 18.5
Healthy weight 8.5 – 24.9
Over weight 25.0- 29.9
Obese 30.0 – and >
Category of Obesity :- Here we categorize into overweight grade 1, grade 2 and grade 3 obesity depending upon the increase in BMI.
If the weight or the BMI is between 25.0 to 29.9 then a person would fall in the overweight category; if the BMI is between 30.0 to 34.9 then a person is in grade 1 obese category, anything between 35.0 to 39.9 is great to obesity and anything above 40.0 body mass index is considered to be grade 3 obesity.
CATEGORY BMI
Obesity Grade I 30 to 34.9
Obesity Grade II 35 to 39.0
Obesity Grade III More than 40
Because Indians and Asians have a higher fat percentage than Westerners, BMI cutoffs are now a little lower for them. As a result, various clinical studies have shown that as our BMI rises, our risk for developing associated diseases rises as well. For example, the risk for any kind of heart-related issues, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or any kind of metabolic problems rises at BMI’s as low as 2.
Apart from that, if you notice that your BMI is progressively increasing and is not under control, you should seek the advice of a weight reduction specialist.
The following table shows the data for different region:
Region Average body mass(kg) Percentage of overweight
Asia 57.7 (127 lbs) 24.2
Africa 60.7 (133 lbs) 28.9
Europe 70.8 (156 lbs) 55.6
Latin America 67.9 (149 lbs) 57.9
North America 80.7 (177 lbs) 73.9
Oceania 74.1 (163 lbs) 63.3
World 62.0 (136 lbs) 34.7
What is the difference between BMR and BMI?
What is BMR? :- BMR is your basal metabolic rate in other words that’s how many calories you need just to stay alive. If you lay in bed all day and did nothing your BMR calculates, how many calories you need or how many calories you’re burning
What is BMI? :- If you stayed in bed all day and didn’t move, your BMI will be radically different. Your body mass index (BMI) is a very generic way to calculate how healthy you are in relation to your height and weight, so don’t get the two confused.
What is the importance of Body mass index for women
What is a healthy BMI for women?
First let’s us know about the healthiest measurement for your weight. BMI, or Body Mass Index, is the measurement calculated by comparing your weight to your height, and although Body Mass Index of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal, frankly, BMI is not an accurate measurement of health. Why?
** For woman BMI = 18.5 to 24.9 is healthy
Because BMI does not take into account your lean body mass. Muscles and bones weigh much more than fat, so lighter weight people are not necessarily healthier. Athletes with very low percentage of body fat will have a falsely elevated BMI because for their height, their dense muscles and bones are too heavy as measured by a Body Mass Index.
And, as women age, they lose bone and muscle mass which may reflect as the same weight on the scale but they’re definitely thicker, not able to wear the same size clothes as they’d wore at the same weight when they were younger. BMI is only a reflection of your weight to your height. BMI does not take into account your body composition, how much fat you have versus lean body mass.
Your weight can be artificially elevated if you’re constipated, suffering from water retention from traveling, eating too much sodium, or even from your hormones, like being premenstrual. You know, BMI, is not the best measure of your health.
BMI FORMULA IN LBS
1) **** IMPERIAL FORMULA 2) **** METRIC FORMULA
BMI = (weight in pounds * 703) BMI = (weight in kilograms)
___________________ ________________
height in inches2 height in meters2
What is a better measurement?
As a woman, you need at least 10 to 12% essential body fat to make hormones and to just survive. Most fit women have 21 to 24% body fat. Athletes often compete at 16 to 18% body fat, sometimes even less. But with such low percentage of body fat, many athletic women will not have periods. That’s because you need fat to make healthy levels of hormones, you know that balanced hormones are the key to health.
In fact, if you’re too underweight, and with a very low BMI, and very low body fat, your hypothalamus will shut down your ability to reproduce. You won’t get periods. It’s called hypothalamic amenorrhea.
That’s because you need a certain amount of body fat to make enough estrogen and progesterone to maintain your health and a healthy pregnancy. When your body fat gets below 12% your hypothalamus deems it’s not safe to have a baby, so your periods disappear.
Usually women over 40 have very cool, underactive thyroids, which probably contributes to midlife weight gain. So body fat composition is a more accurate measurement of health than BMI. I suggest you get rid of your scale and get out a tape measure.
RELATED TOPICS : EFFECTIVE TIPS TO LOSE BELLY FAT OVER 40
Keeping an eye on your waist measurement is a better way to measure your health. Measure your waist at the smallest part, not the largest part of your stomach, usually just above your belly button. If your waist is over 30 inches for a woman, you may be heading towards insulin resistance, diabetes, and heart disease.
There are numerous body composition calculators on the market. Some are more precise than others, but none are as precise as underwater weighing to determine body fat.
“The goal is more lean body mass, more muscle and bone, to keep metabolically active, healthy, and age more gracefully”.
BMI charts for adults
The BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters. A high BMI signifies that you have a lot of fat on your body.
To calculate BMI, use the Adult BMI Calculator or use this BMI Index Chart to get your height and weight.• If your BMI is <18.5, it falls within the underweight range.
- If your BMI is 18.5 to <25, it falls within the healthy weight range.
- If your BMI is 25.0 to <30, it falls within the overweight range.
- If your BMI is 30.0 or higher, it falls within the obesity range.
Obesity is frequently subdivided into categories:-
- Class 1: BMI of 30 to < 35
- Class 2: BMI of 35 to < 40
- Class 3: BMI of 40 or higher. Class 3 obesity is sometimes categorized as “severe” obesity.
Adult Body Mass Index (BMI)
Height Weight Range BMI Considered
- 5’9” 124 lbs or less Below 18.5 Underweight
- 125 lbs to 168 lbs 8.5 to 24.9 Healthy weight
- 169 lbs to 202 lbs 25.0 to 29.9 Overweight
- 203 lbs or more 30 or higher Obesity
- 271 lbs or more 40 or higher Class 3 Obesity
FAQ:
What is BMI class 10 and why is it important?
Explanation: A person’s BMI is used to determine his weight in relation to his height, indicating whether he is underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese.
What exactly is BMI stand for?
The BMI (Body Mass Index) is a statistic that assesses a person’s overall health. BMI is computed by multiplying a person’s weight in kilograms by their squared height in meters. A high BMI indicates that you have a lot of body fat. BMI shows weight categories that are potentially damaging to one’s health, however it does not assess body fatness or health.
What was the intention of the BMI in the very first place?
Lambert, Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, a Belgian, invented the BMI in the early 1800s. He wasn’t a doctor; he was a mathematician. He created the method to aid the government in resource allocation by providing a simple and quick tool to assess the degree of obesity in the general population.
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