Those who are interested in keeping healthy will eventually become aware that they are to keep an ideal weight according to their height. In fact, when assessing a patient’s health risks like diabetes and arthritis, health care providers will make into one’s body mass index. A person’s body mass index is a tool that can be helpful in figuring out how much one should weigh for one’s height.
Calculating Your Body Mass Index
Your body mass index is the ratio or the relation of your weight as to your height. It has become a very much used tool when it comes to figuring out the amount of one’s body fat. Here’s how you calculate your body mass index:
BMI is equivalent to your weight, usually measured in pounds, divided by your height, which is measured in inches squared, and then multiplied by 703.
Sample Calculation
Let’s say that a patient is not that tall, let’s put it at seven inches above five feet or 67 inches to be exact. This individual’s weight is measured at 220 pounds. When you calculate this person’s BMI you would divide 220 by the square of 67 inches, which will become 220 divided by 4,489. That will eventually result to 34.45 BMI. Now the next step is to figure out what this number would stand for. In order to interpret this result you need to consult a BMI chart.
BMI Chart Results
After getting your BMI, you need to figure out where it is classified on a BMI chart. You can look one up online in order to make out what your BMI actually says about your body’s health. Looking at a BMI chart, you are considered healthy if your calculations would result to 18.5 to 24.9. However, you will be considered overweight if it rises to 25 to 29.9. Your BMI is considered obese in case you get a result of 30 or more.
Precautions When Using Your BMI
Though checking out one’s body mass index is particularly useful, it still has its own flaws. One important thing to remember that whatever number you get for your BMI, it will never indicate the difference if between the difference in the weight of your fat and muscles.
In this regard, your BMI would not be exactly as accurate as you might expect. In some cases, someone who has a huge muscle mass will have a very unhealthy BMI but will have very little chances of ever developing diabetes. There are other things that a health care provider will look into other than your BMI. It is however a useful tool in getting an immediate estimate and assessment on how much you should weigh for your height.
