In today's health-conscious world, you may wonder if you have managed to maintain a healthy weight. The numbers you read on your bathroom scale only tell you half the story. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, health professionals may use a few different methods to evaluate your weight and risk for obesity-related health problems like heart disease and high blood pressure. Calculating your body mass index, or BMI, can shed light on the state of your health, but in some instances it may not accurately gauge the need for weight loss. BMI scores of body builders, elderly people and children should vary slightly from that of the general population. In order to get a more complete picture, your doctor may also take your waist-to-hip ratio into consideration.
Calculating BMI
Step 1
Stand on a scale to find your current weight. If you don't know your height in inches, stand with your back against a wall in stocking feet and measure from the floor to the top of your head.
Step 2
Multiply your weight by 703 using a calculator. For example, if you weigh 170 lbs., enter "170x703=" and you'll get 119,510.
Step 3
Divide that answer by your height in inches. Following the example, a 68-inch tall person would enter "119,510/68=" and get 1757.5.
Step 4
Divide that answer by your height again. Continuing the example, "1757.5/68=" will give you approximately 25.8. This number is your BMI. A number under 18.5 indicates you are underweight. Between 18.5 and 24.9 indicates a healthy body weight. If your number is between 25.0 and 29.9, you are overweight. A number between 30.0 and 39.9 indicates obesity and any number higher than that indicates morbid obesity.
Calculating Waist-to-Hip Ratio
Step 1
Wrap the cloth tape measure around your waist at the smallest point--usually about halfway between the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hip bones. Write this number on a sheet of paper so you don't forget it.
Step 2
Measure the circumference at the widest part of your hips--usually close to the bend in your thigh and the fleshiest area of your buttocks. Write the number down.
Step 3
Take the waist measurement and divide it by the hip measurement to get your waist-to-hip ratio. A ratio above 0.8 indicates you have an "apple-shaped" body type with a higher risk for disease. A ratio at or below 0.8 indicates a "pear-shaped" body type and a lower risk of disease.
Things You'll Need
- Scale
- Cloth tape measure
- Calculator
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