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BMI Calculator: What Do Your Results Mean?

Body mass index (BMI) is a metric calculated based on a person height and weight. It helps in understanding the body fatness of most people.

Read on to know more about what your BMI results mean.

BMI is the easy-to-calculate metric of obesity. It is based on the ratio of a person’s weight and height. It is beneficial to know BMI as it can help in identifying the disease risk to a person.

BMI is good for measuring rates of obesity in a population. It allows researchers to understand how the rates of obesity and overweight differ over time. Furthermore, as BMI is a general measure of obesity, it can help in understanding the rates between populations.

The information received by calculating the BMI of a population can help researchers with various studies, such as understanding how dietary patterns can affect the risk of obesity in many people. BMI can also help a physician understand the general risk to a person due to diseases that can be caused by obesity.

Calculating BMI and What its Results Mean

A person’s body mass index can help him/her understand if he/she has a healthy weight. The formula to calculate BMI is easy-

Weight (kg) / [Height (m)]2

Let’s take a look at an example-

Height- 165 cm (1.65 m)

Weight- 68 kg

BMI- 68 / (1.65×1.65)

BMI- 24.98

BMI Categories

  • If a person has BMI less than 18.5, then he/she is underweight.
  • If a person has BMI between 18.5 and 24, then he/she is normal weight.
  • If a person has BMI between 25 and 29.9, then he/she is overweight.
  • If a person has BMI above 30, then he/she is obese.

Furthermore, obesity is divided into 3 classifications-

  • Class I- BMI between 30 and 34.9
  • Class II- BMI between 35 and 39.9
  • Class III- BMI above 40

The well-being of a person can get affected if his/her BMI is 30 or above. He/she might face problems like stroke, gall bladder diseases and gallstones, heart disease, diabetes, etc.

Furthermore, a person might suffer from health problems if he/she has between 15 and 16. Being underweight can cause surgical complication risks. Females can use BMI calculator women to understand their BMI and know if they might face any risk.

BMI for Kids

A child’s body changes quickly. Therefore, the standard BMI result isn’t a good option for children. Generally, doctors use another method to calculate a child’s BMI. They first take a standard BMI calculation based on the child’s weight and height. The BMI value is compared with the BMI value of other kids of the same gender and age. For this, the doctors take the help of percentiles and percentages.

The weight categories for kids based on percentiles are-

  • If BMI is less than the 5th percentile, then the child is underweight.
  • If BMI is above the 5th percentile but below the 85th percentile, then the child has normal weight.
  • If BMI is above 85th percentile but below 95th percentile, then the child is overweight.
  • If BMI is equal to or greater than 95th percentile, then the child is obese.

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