The BMI may be determined using a table or chart which displays BMI as a function of mass and height using contour lines or colors for different BMI categories, and which may use other units of measurement (converted to metric units for the calculation).
The BMI is a convenient rule of thumb used to broadly categorize a person as underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese based on tissue mass (muscle, fat, and bone) and height. Major adult BMI classifications are underweight (under 18.5 kg/m2), normal weight (18.5 to 24.9), overweight (25 to 29.9), and obese (30 or more). When used to predict an individual's health, rather than as a statistical measurement for groups, the BMI has limitations that can make it less usefully when applied to individuals with abdominal obesity, short stature, or unusually high muscle mass.
BMIs under 20 and over 25 have been associated with higher all-cause mortality, with the risk increasing with distance from the 20–25 range.
BMI takes into account natural variations in body shape, giving a healthy weight range for a particular height. Measuring your BMI, healthcare professionals may take other factors into account when assessing if you're a healthy weight.
Muscle is much denser than fat, so very muscular people, such as heavyweight boxers, weight trainers and athletes, may be a healthy weight even though their BMI is classed as obese.
Your ethnic group can also affect your risk of some health conditions. For example, adults of South Asian origin may have a higher risk of some health problems, such as diabetes, with a BMI of 23, which is usually considered healthy.
You should not use BMI as a measure if you're pregnant. Get advice from your midwife or GP if you're concerned about your weight.
Obesity is a complex disease involving an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity isn't just a cosmetic concern. It's a medical problem that increases the risk of other diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain cancers.
There are many reasons why some people have difficulty losing weight. Usually, obesity results from inherited, physiological and environmental factors, combined with diet, physical activity and exercise choices.
Lean body mass (LBM) is a part of body composition that is defined as the difference between total body weight and body fat weight. This means that it counts the mass of all organs except body fat, including bones, muscles, blood, skin, and everything else. While the percentage of LBM is usually not computed, it on average ranges between 60-90% of total body weight. Generally, men have a higher proportion of LBM than women do. The dosages of some anesthetic agents, particularly water-soluble drugs, are routinely based on the LBM. Some medical exams also use the LBM values. For body fitness and routine daily life, people normally care more about body fat percentage than LBM. To compute body fat, consider using our body fat calculator or ideal weight calculator.
Multiple formulas have been developed for calculating estimated LBM, and the calculator above provides the results for all of them.
You must be logged in to post a comment.