Your body mass index, or BMI, is a useful number that can help you determine if you are overweight. Determining your BMI requires only basic math skills and uses your height and weight measurements. Although a high number can indicate that you are overweight, your BMI number may also be high if you are an athlete and have increased muscle mass, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Calculating BMI for Adults
Before you calculate your BMI, you must measure yourself, noting your height in inches, and weigh yourself, noting your weight in pounds. It may be easier to ask a friend to measure you to ensure that you get your height in inches correct. Multiply your height by itself. If your height in inches is 55, you will multiply 55 by 55. Divide your weight in pounds by the answer you found after multiplying your height by your height. Multiply the resulting number by 703 to determine your BMI.
Calculating BMI for Children
Although the BMI for children uses height and weight measurements, it also takes into account your child's age and sex. BMI can vary depending on your child's sex and is influenced by your child's rate of growth. After you use the standard formula to determine your child's BMI, you can use the number to find your child's percentile rating when compared to other children by consulting growth charts on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. BMI calculators for children and adults are also available on the website.
While the BMI can help you determine if your child is at a healthy weight, overweight or at risk for becoming overweight, a high BMI alone doesn't necessarily mean that your child is really overweight. In order to determine if excess fat is causing your child to have a high BMI for his age or gender, your health care provider would need to conduct further assessments, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. People between the ages of two and 20 should use the children's formula to calculate their BMI.
Understanding Your Number
A BMI of 18.5 or lower may mean you are underweight, while a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 indicates that your weight is in the normal range for your height. If you have a BMI of 25 to 29.9, you are considered overweight. A BMI of 30 or over falls into the obese range. Children who rank in the 5th to 85th percentile are considered at a normal weight for their weight and sex, while a number between the 85th and 95th percentile can indicate that a child is at increased risk for becoming overweight. Children measuring in the 95th percentile or higher are considered overweight.
Considerations
Although a BMI over 25 usually means that you are overweight, this number may not apply if you are elderly. It is better to have a BMI between 25 and 27 if you are elderly because a slightly higher BMI may help protect your from osteoporosis, according to Medline Plus.
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