BMI Calculator

BMI or Body Mass Index is one of the indicators of a person's overall health condition. The BMI chart must not be viewed in isolation but along with the person's age, lifestyle and other related issues. A BMI calculator helps you check if your weight falls within acceptable limits for your height. Extra weight is a precursor to increased cholesterol levels, diabetes, osteoarthritis and coronary disease. Therefore it becomes essential to calculate your BMI as its gives you a fair idea whether you are underweight, overweight or obese. It however cannot indicate the presence of any disease. Use our free BMI calculator to look up your BMI score.

Body Mass Index Calculator

BMI is calculated with an adult's body weight and height. BMI calculation can help you take stock of your weight compared with your height. A high BMI is usually associated with health hazards. Heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure can usually be traced to overweight or obese people. A BMI index or score can help you gauge whether your weight is in a healthy range or whether you are overweight. Suitable diet alterations, lifestyle changes and exercise regimen can then be undertaken. Body fat and BMI differs with age and gender. Women are more predisposed to higher percentage of body fat when compared with men for the same BMI.

BMI cannot be used as the only indicator for total body fat since it may overestimate the body fat in athletes and those with a muscular build. Such persons have a high BMI due to increased muscle mass. Similarly women who are pregnant or lactating tend to have an increased BMI. Healthy BMI figures for children and young people are different from those for adults. You must use a separate BMI scale to calculate the score for a growing child.

BMI chart

The BMI chart shown below is a broad indicator of a person's weight status. Find out your weight status on the BMI chart and also take into account factors such as waist circumference, physical activity levels, diet and smoking.

The BMI percentile chart is used to plot the BMI index for kids. This percentile is effective in comparing the child's BMI against kids of the same age and gender. A BMI in the 75th percentile means that your child's BMI is 75th when compared to 100 typical kids of the same age and gender.

1. BMI less than 5^th percentile: Underweight
2. BMI between 5^th and 85^th percentile: Healthy weight
3. BMI greater than 85^th percentile: At risk of being overweight
4. BMI greater than 95^th percentile: Overweight

This can be particularly effective in controlling and monitoring child obesity. It has been seen that nearly 6 out of 10 children in the 95th percentile BMI face cardiovascular and other health problems. Overweight children are most likely to carry their excess weight into their adulthood.

BMI calculation

BMI calculation does not indicate the amount of body fat but instead throws light on the relative percentage of fat and muscle mass as compared to the height. BMI calculation can be done using both systems of measurement. The BMI calculator using pounds and inches works on the following formula: