Ideal Weight For A Certain Height

Knowing your ideal weight is important because you're at a greater risk of bad health if you weigh more than 5 percent below and 20 percent above your ideal weight range if you're a man and more than 5 percent below and 30 percent above your ideal weight if you're a woman, according to the college textbook "Essentials for Health and Wellness." Being overweight increases your risk of arthritis, breathing difficulties, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.

Weight-for-Height Table

The body mass index is a very flawed way of assessing ideal weights, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC notes that the BMI doesn't take gender into consideration. This means that the BMI assigns men and women of equal height the same ideal weight although the average man weighs considerably more because he is more muscular and muscle weighs more than fat. The BMI also doesn't take body frame into consideration. The weight-for-height table considers gender and body frame and is also easier to understand. You can ascertain your body frame by measuring the circumference of your wrists.

Men

Men have a large frame if their wrists are larger than 7.5 inches, a medium frame if their wrists are 6.5 to 7.5 inches, and a small frame if their wrists are smaller than 6.5 inches. Men with medium frames have an ideal weight that is roughly 3 to 10 lb. more than men with small frames and 7 to 20 lb. less than men with large frames, according to the weight-for-height table. A medium-framed man's ideal weight is 137 to 148 lb. if he's 5 feet 5 inches, 145 to 157 lb. if he's 5 feet 8 inches, 151 to 163 lb. if he's 5 feet 10 inches, 157 to 170 lb. if he's 6 feet tall and 164 to 178 lb. if he's 6 feet 2 inches.

Small-Framed Women

Women have a small frame if they're under 5 feet 2 inches and their wrists are less than 5.5 inches, they're between 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 5 inches and their wrists are less than 6 inches, or they're taller than 5 feet 5 inches and their wrists are less than 6.25 inches. A small-framed woman's ideal weight is 106 to 118 lb. if she's 5 feet 1 inches, 111 to 124 lb. if she's 5 feet 3 inches, 117 to 130 lb. if she's 5 feet 5 inches, 126 to 139 lb. if she's 5 feet 8 inches and 132 to 145 lb. if she's 5 feet 10 inches.

Medium-Framed Women

Women have a medium frame if they're under 5 feet 2 inches and their wrists are 5.5 to 5.75 inches, they're between 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 5 inches and their wrists are 6 to 6.25 inches, or they're taller than 5 feet 5 inches and their wrists are 6.25 to 6.5 inches. A medium-framed woman's ideal weight is 115 to 129 lb. if she's 5 feet 1 inches, 121 to 135 lb. if she's 5 feet 3 inches, 127 to 141 lb. if she's 5 feet 5 inches, 136 to 150 lb. if she's 5 feet 8 inches and 142 to 156 lb. if she's 5 feet 10 inches.

Large-Framed Women

Women have a large frame if they're under 5 feet 2 inches and their wrists are more than 5.75 inches, they're between 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 5 inches and their wrists are more than 6.25 inches, or they're taller than 5 feet 5 inches and their wrists are more than 6.5 inches. A large-framed woman's ideal weight is 125 to 140 lb. if she's 5 feet 1 inches, 131 to 147 lb. if she's 5 feet 3 inches, 137 to 155 lb. if she's 5 feet 5 inches, 146 to 167 lb. if she's 5 feet 8 inches and 152 to 173 lb. if she's 5 feet 10 inches.