Body Mass Index (BMI): Overview, Calculation & How to Improve

BMI (Body Mass Index) is a widespread diagnostical method which is used to determine a person’s weight status based on his or her height. BMI gives you a number, which can then be compared to the recommended values for a given weight. Based on this comparison, it can be easily determined if the weight of a given person is optimal or if the person is underweight, overweight, or even obese.

A worrying fact is that more than two-thirds of adults in the US are considered to be overweight or obese (1), with obesity being a proven risk factor connected to many different kinds of disease. Even despite these and other horrible statistics, the number of obese people is still rising. And another alarming fact is that obesity and high BMI values are more and more common among adolescent children.

Normal BMI is one of the basic principles of a holistic approach to health. Reducing weight back to optimal numbers will enable the body to regenerate and restore itself to its natural state. This page will help you to calculate your own BMI and will give you valuable information and options to help you optimize your weight.

BMI Calculation

Basically, you have four options for how to figure out your BMI:

BMI Calculator

Imperial Metric

Height Weight

Height Weight

Your BMI is

Calculate your BMI value by inputting the required data and by pressing “Calculate”. The calculated value will be automatically compared to the individual levels in the BMI Table, which was put together according to the WHO. (2)

BMI Table

BMI	STATUS
Below 18.5	Underweight
18.5–24.9	Normal weight
25.0–29.9	Pre-obesity
30.0–34.9	Obesity class I
35.0–39.9	Obesity class II
Above 40	Obesity class III

Do you know your result? Find out if obesity is a disease or not, and how it is possible to optimize your weight.

BMI Ranges

BMI Formula

In connection to the used measuring units, there are two commonly used formulas. Below are two options for how to calculate BMI: (3)

Based on these two options you can also calculate your BMI on your own calculator.

BMI Accuracy

From the mentioned BMI Formulas, it follows that the BMI calculations are accurate. But its interpretations may not be so accurate. The main reasons why the informational value of the Body Mass Index is limited are:

The mentioned limitations show that the Body Mass Index must be taken with discretion and that common sense must be used as well. But for most readers, the provided calculator and calculation methods are more than sufficient, and you will likely not need to look for other index methods. By spending too much time worrying about the details of the BMI calculation, it’s likely that you will lose sight of the general nature of the index.

BMI for Kids

The basis for BMI calculation for children is similar to adults, but the interpretation is different. Firstly, it is necessary to thoroughly measure the height and weight. Input this and other information into the Child and Teen BMI Calculator to calculate the BMI.

Apart from the height and weight of children and adults, age and sex are also evaluated. The reason for this is that the amount of body fat differs between the two sexes and also changes with age.

The available statistics tell us that child obesity increases as children get older. This fact clearly points to the reality that neither the parents nor the children know what a healthy way of eating is and how they should maintain it. The result is that among adolescents – between 12 to 19 years – roughly 20 % suffer from obesity and another 9 % from extreme obesity. (4)

BMI Chart

For completeness, we are listing one additional method for determining your BMI level – manually using a chart. Simply match your height and weight in the chart. Your index will lie there where these values meet. The charts are colored for easy classification.

Is Obesity a Disease?

Nowadays, obesity is becoming normal and being slim is by contrast something exceptional. This situation is noticeable mainly in middle and older age groups. The constant presence of obesity in our surroundings mistakenly lulls us into false security and gives us a feeling that we are looking normal and that everything is alright.

But it is a very deceptive feeling.

Being overweight increases the risk of development of many serious, life-threatening diseases such as:

Our body deals significantly more with overweightness than our eyes do. It is important to learn to perceive obesity as a disease – and a serious one, which can in the end pose a threat to human health.

How to Lose Weight and Improve Your BMI

Now, we know that even if we look the same or feel better than others, this does not mean that everything is okay. We also know that weight problems, be they underweight, overweight, or obesity-related, are a serious disease and that one should not take any chances. It is advised for everyone to optimize their BMI to maintain optimal health.

Losing Weight Fast

First, it is important to realize that classical fast-acting fat-reduction diets are virtually non-functional, whatever principle they may work on. These reduction diets will not guarantee permanent maintenance of optimal weight. Why?

Because they are a contamination of your body.

Due to the consumption and digestion of bad foods, harmful substances are mostly stored in fat reserves first. That is why during reduction diets, the body is flooded with harmful substances from the body’s own dissolved fats and is basically poisoned by large amounts of its own waste products. For the body to remove these substances again, it has to create fat again, leading to the well-known yo-yo effect. This situation seemingly has no solution and it often leads to incorrect conclusions (such as blaming heredity) and psychological problems as well.

Is a High Protein Diet Better?

If you have carefully read the previous paragraph about how the classical reduction diets (don’t) work, it is likely that you will not trust high-protein diets either. And this distrust is justified, since this diet can cause the body to literally drown itself in its own metabolic waste.

The body may lose weight this way, but only due to its own slow poisoning of itself. This mainly applies when the high protein amounts are acquired from animal meat. Before you start any similar dieting methods, read an article about healthy nutrition and human organism balance. Don’t forget that the overall effect of different diets on your health may not be visible right away – it can become apparent later. Namely in cases when your diet will repeatedly disrupt the natural balance in your body.

Best Way To Lose Weight

Weight optimization itself is not so important. The way you optimize your weight is. The optimal way is one which minimizes organism contamination and has the smallest negative impact on the human body. To achieve this goal, it is possible to use principles of Holistic Health. With regards to weight optimization, these principles are as follows:

Conclusion

This article introduced you to what BMI is and to the individual methods of determining it. If you have realized that your BMI is not normal, consider the mentioned methods of optimization. Especially in cases where the index values strongly differ from the recommended ranges. But keep in mind that NOT even the BMI can tell you everything, and it is only one of many basics of your health.

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