Health care professionals frequently use body mass index (BMI) as a diagnostic tool to estimate a person's relative fatness or thinness. This is accomplished through a simple formula that compares the person's mass to his height.
Standard Formula
The international formula for calculating BMI is mass (in kilograms) divided by the square of the person's height (in meters). This may be written as kilograms over meters squared.
Formula Using Inches
Imperial units of measurement, which are common in the U.S., can also be used to calculate BMI. A common formula using inches is weight in pounds times 703, divided by the square of the patient's height in inches.
Formula Using Feet
A similar formula uses feet instead of inches. The person's weight in pounds is multiplied by 4.88; the resulting total is then divided by the square of her height in feet.
Considerations
All three versions of body mass index formula yield similar or identical results. There are no accepted variations of these formulas.
Example
An adult who is 1.65 meters tall and weighs 62 kilograms would have a BMI of 22.77. (62 times 1.65 squared= 62 times 2.7225= 22.77).
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