Your body mass index, or BMI, can be a very telling number. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, the formula used to calculate your BMI is a good screening tool to help determine if you have a problem with weight. However, your BMI doesn't tell the full story; measuring your waist can also help determine if you have too much body fat.
BMI Formula
The formula used to determine your BMI is straightforward when used by adult men and women 20 years of age and older. Simply divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches squared, then multiply this by 703. A BMI of 18.5 or less suggests that you're underweight, while a BMI from 18.5 to 24.9 indicates that you have a normal weight. If your BMI is from 25.0 to 29.9, this suggests that you're overweight; a BMI of 30.0 or more is typically indicative of obesity.
Limitations
The problem with using your BMI to determine if you carry around too much body fat is that it does not tell you how much fat you actually have compared to lean muscle mass. The CDC points out that trained athletes typically have a higher BMI than average. Older individuals also tend to have more body fat than those who are younger, and women usually have more body fat than men with the same BMI. In fact, according to MayoClinic.com nutritionists Jennifer Nelson and Katherine Zeratsky, BMI may fail to identify obesity in women aged 20 to 33. Excess belly fat is also another risk factor for weight-related illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and even some types of cancer.
Waist Measurements
Because body fat distribution is important, the Weight-control Information Network, or WIN, indicates that waist measurement is yet another screening tool to help you ascertain if you have too much body fat. Weight-related illnesses are more likely to afflict women with a waist measurement of more than 35" and men with a waist measurement of more than 40".
Other Information
There are other methods to determine your ratio of body fat to muscle; however, the CDC indicates that these techniques, including measuring skinfold thickness, underwater weighing and body scans, may be expensive, or they may not be readily available. Most people with a BMI of 30 or more can reduce their risk for health problems through weight loss; this is particularly true for those with a BMI of 40 or greater. According to WIN, simply losing 5 to 10 percent of your initial body weight can greatly improve your health.
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