Your body mass index (BMI) is a ratio of your height and weight. Population studies commonly use it to assess the weight of the members of a population group. Health care workers also use the BMI as a preliminary screening tool to identify individuals who may be underweight or overweight. Standards references typically list BMI values in metric units, which use your weight to kilograms and your height to meters.
Step 1
Measure your height with a tape measure. You'll need to multiply your height in inches by 0.0254 to get your height in meters. Assume you're 65 inches tall for this example. This means you're 65 x 0.0254 = 1.65m tall. If your tape measure has metric units, measure yourself on the metric scale.
Step 2
Weigh yourself with a scale. Weigh yourself in kilograms or divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to get your weight kilograms. If you weigh 140 lbs., you would calculate 140 / 2.2 = 63.6kg.
Step 3
Compute your BMI with the equation W / (H x H) where W is your weight and H is your height. Ensure that you use your weight in kilograms and your height in meters to obtain your BMI in kilograms per square meters (kg/m^2.) If you're 1.65m tall and weigh 63.6kg, your BMI is 63.6 / (1.65 x 1.65) = 23.4.
Step 4
Determine your weight classification from your BMI. The WHO classifies individuals with a BMI less than 18.5 as underweight. The normal range for the BMI is from 18.5 and 25. The pre-obesity range for the BMI is between 25 and 30 BMI. BMI values above 30 signify varying degrees of obesity. A BMI of 23.4 means that you're within your normal weight range.
Things You'll Need
- Scales
- Tape measure
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