Body Mass Index is often used by healthcare professionals in order to determine whether or not the patients are overweight, underweight, or clinically obese. The obese people tend to develop diseases like hypertension, high level of cholesterol, respiratory problems, severe cancers sleep apnea and stroke.
However BMI has some drawbacks, i.e., the measurement that it provides is without considering the body fat content, height, muscle tissues and bone density. An athlete might have a higher BMI than that of a couch potato. Hence, BMI may always not depict the correct result.
How to calculate BMI – Adults
BMI can be calculated in two different ways, i.e., the metric system and the imperial system.
(Below) to help you work these figures out.
METRIC SYSTEM
A person is required to know his body weight in kilograms & his body height in meters. Then they have to divide the first by the second.
For Example
Formula: BMI = WEIGHTS (KG)/ HEIGHT2 (M)
Weight 90 kilograms
Height 1.9 meters (6 feet)
1.9 * 1.9 = 3.61
90 divided by 3.61 = BMI is 24.93
IMPERIAL SYSTEM
The person’s weight in pounds, multiplied by 703, divided by the square of their height in inches.
For example:
Formula: WEIGHTS (LB) x 703/ HEIGHT2 (IN)
Weight 190 lbs
Height 72 inches (6 feet)
72 * 72 = 5,184
190 multiplied by 703 divided by 5,184 = BMI is 25.76
How to determine your body weight status
The standard measure of BMI:
If the BMI is below 18.5, then the person is underweight
If the BMI is between 18.5 – 22.5, then the person has a Normal weight
If the BMI is between 22.6 – 27, then the person is overweight
If the BMI is between 27.6 – 32.5, then the person is Class 1 obese
If the BMI is between 32.6 – 37.5, then the person falls under class 2 obesity
If the BMI is between 37.6 – 49.9, then the person falls under class 3 obesity
If the BMI is over 50, then the person is SUPER OBESE
Dwaine Johnson (actor and wrestler), at his peak probably had a BMI nearing 30.
However, he would not be considered as obese or overweight because he had a high muscle-to-fat ratio.
A couch potato of the same weight and height would most probably be obese.
