What BMI Should I Be?

BMI is an acronym for body mass index, a health risk assessment score based on your height and weight. Many websites publish online calculators, or you can use a table to look up your BMI score and see the recommended weight range for your height. Adult men and women use the same BMI tables, while children's BMI also involves using age and gender tables. Because other factors may influence professional weight recommendations for individuals, talk to your health care provider about interpreting your BMI score.

Healthy Score

A healthy BMI score falls between 19 and 24.9, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Following to this scale, a 5-foot-5-inch adult with a healthy BMI weighs between 114 and 144 lbs., while a 6-foot-2-inch adult should weigh between 148 and 186 lbs. The institute reports that higher scores are associated with a higher cancer risk. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported in 2011 that two thirds of American adults have a score higher than 25, and are overweight or obese, prompting new dietary guidelines.

Insurance

Many life and health insurance companies use BMI tables to estimate risk levels of new applicants, according to the Associated Press. Because healthy policyholders cost insurers less money, some companies offer discounts when you provide documentation of maintaining a healthy BMI for an extended period. The health care reform act of 2010 will bar insurance companies from denying coverage to adults in 2014, but it does not limit pricing based on obesity or other risk factors.

Disease

The World Health Organization and the National Institutes of Health use BMI scores to assess your health risk level for cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other weight-related health issues. In general, as your weight goes down, your risk level for many diseases goes down. Other factors may come into play in your individual risk assessment. Government agencies use average BMI scores for communities, to help allocate funding for health and educational programs.

Considerations

The BMI scale designates scores for underweight, healthy, overweight and obese levels. If you let your weight go too low, you may incur other types of health risks. If you are an athlete or over age 65, you may carry a higher or lower than average percentage of muscle mass, which may skew your BMI score.