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By Diane Griffith, Staff Writer
BMI stands for Body Mass Index. Your height and weight are used to calculate your BMI. It is used by both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and The World Health Organization as a way to help define obesity.
Knowing your BMI is important because your weight alone doesn't tell the whole story. If your BMI is too high, you're at an increased risk for many chronic health problems. These include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease and osteoarthritis. It also raises the risk for endometrial, breast, prostate and colon cancers.
Making sense of the numbers
BMI = [Weight in pounds ÷ Height in inches ÷ Height in inches] x 703. For example, the BMI of a 6-foot person who weighs 210 pounds would be 210 pounds divided by 72 inches divided by 72 inches and multiplied by 703 = 28.5.
According to the NIH, your BMI score means the following:
- Underweight: below 18.5
- Normal: 18.5 to 24.9
- Overweight: 25 to 29.9
- Obese: 30 and above
Note that it is possible to be overweight and have very little fat. Bodybuilders and full-time athletes may fall into that category. But most people who are overweight have too much body fat.
Children, too
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that seven in 10 overweight children ages 10 to 13 will likely have weight problems as adults. To fight the rising obesity rate among children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also published BMI charts for children.
Children's BMI charts help pediatricians identify potential weight problems at an early age. Even though a child's BMI is calculated the same way as an adult, the way it is used is different. That is because kids have a different amount of body fat at different ages. And boys and girls also differ from each other in the amount of body fat they have.
Toward a healthier BMI
To keep weight off and improve your BMI, you need to reduce your calories and increase your physical activity. Here are some tips for losing weight and keeping it off.
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Talk to your doctor before you start any weight-loss program or supplement. Be wary of fad diets and rapid weight-loss programs. They may give you dramatic short-term results, but can be dangerous long-term. If you don't get enough calories, your body will go into starvation mode, your metabolism will slow down and weight loss will be even harder.
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Be active. If you don't have much time for exercise, try to give up something else. If you haven't been active, doing too much too soon can lead to burnout and injuries. Have a physical first and talk to your doctor about starting an exercise program. You may want to start by walking for 10 minutes a day and gradually build up your time.
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Set realistic weight-loss goals, such as one to two pounds a week. Even a small amount of weight loss can make a huge difference to your health.
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Know what you're eating. Try to limit your total daily calories to less than 30 percent of fat. Instead of junk foods, keep fruit, carrots or celery in your refrigerator. Remember that reducing dietary fat alone without cutting calories will not help you lose weight. Some fat-free food products actually contain more calories than their fat-containing counterparts.
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Track your eating and exercising habits by recording them in a diary.
Stick with it. Don't give up just because you reached a plateau or binged on potato salad at yesterday's barbecue.
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This article was reviewed and updated
08-01-2009.
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