Body Mass Index

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Body Mass Index For Formula

Body Mass Index is a medical standard for measuring a person's weight in relation to his/her height. The formula for Body Mass Index was derived by Belgium statistician Adolphe Ouelet. It is also known as Quetelet Index.  It is used by physicians and doctors for finding out whether a person suffers from obesity or not. The Body Mass Index is a good indicator to find out the amount of fat a person carries and is an international standard for measuring obesity. It gives a somewhat accurate assessment of the amount of fat the body is composed of. The formula provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are,

English Formula BMI= weight in pounds divided by (height in inches x height in inches) x 703

Metric formula for calculating BMI = weight in kilograms divided by (height in meters x height in meters)

The formula is designed for adults who are over twenty years. If the BMI is below 19.5 using this formula then a person is underweight. The normal weight is a person with BMI 18.5 to 24.9. A person whose BMI ranges between 25.0 to 29.9 is referred as overweight and with a BMI above 30 a person suffers from obesity. With obesity, the chance of fatal diseases like cancer and heart problems increases.  In the formula only two factors are important for determining the BMI. The height is calculated in inches and weight in pounds.

Regular height and weight checkups help in assessing the growth of a person. The formula can be used for adult men and women.  A male person will have a higher BMI than a female of the same height because men have more muscles than females. For a given height the BMI is directly proportional to weight. This means if the body weight increases by 60% then Body Mass Index also rises by 50%. For children the BMI is calculated in a different way. After calculating the way it is calculated for adults, it is compared to the values for other children of the same age.

In addition to this formula, BMI is also calculated using a BMI chart where the weight is displayed on the horizontal axis and the height is on the vertical axis. The correlation of the height and weight is the crux of the Body Mass Index which is determined using the formula. It is extremely useful for determining whether the weight of the person is proportionate to his or her height and in this way it is a warning for a person if he or she is overweight. This method for calculating weight and height became popular in the 1950's and 60's when obesity became a serious concern among the people. Since the 1980's, BMI is used as a standard for keeping track of obesity statistics.

The  BMI formula not only determines whether a person is overweight but also points out whether a person is underweight which is also a serious concern in some cases.

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