In a world that is bombarded daily with health, weight, and body image issues it is easy to get confused about what information is relevant to your body and lifestyle. When sorting through the different sources of advice, one piece of evidence that remains constant for every person is the body mass index. This is a calculation of what a recommended weight is for a particular person’s height. It also helps doctors determine if a person is at risk for being overweight or obese, and allows early preventative measures to be taken.
Although body mass index is a multi-step process, it is still easy to compute. The first step is to take your weight and multiply it by the number 703. It is helpful if your weight is taken on a digital scale to be slightly more accurate, however either way is acceptable. The next step is to figure out your height. This is easily done with a tape measure, but may require an extra set of hands. Once you have your height you should convert it to inches. Next, the formula for body mass index requires that you square your height after it has been converted to inches.
The final step is to divide your first calculation with your weight by the second calculation with your height. This will give you a number generally from 18 through 30. These numbers are grouped into four categories. The names of the categories are underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. Your placement in one of these four categories allows doctors to get a general idea of your health.
Generally, you want your weight to be in the normal category, which is anywhere from 18.5-24.9. This means that your weight is healthy for how tall you are. Once a doctor calculates your body mass index, they are able to give you suggestions about how to lose or gain weight. As you can see, finding your body mass index is important to having a healthy weight.