Body Mass Index
October 14, 2008
BMI or Body Mass Index is a measure of the amount of fat in your body. This is a system used to determine how much you should exercise or diet in order to attain a certain level of fitness. BMI is calculated by taking the person’s height and weight into consideration and is basically used to predict a possibility of a health problem in the future.
Though BMI does not directly measure the fat in the body it is a system that has been developed from years of research and correlates directly to measurements of body fat. The technique used includes under weighing and using a system called duel energy x-ray absorptiometry or DXA. Therefore, BMI is considered a good alternative to measuring body fat directly which may be a very complicated and largely inaccurate technique if it is not done expertly.
BMI is not a diagnostic tool for health care professionals but it is a very good indicator of certain possible health issues. If a doctor determines that an individual has an unacceptable BMI he may subject the person to additional tests such as skin fold tests that measures the thickness of the skin and will also evaluate the diet of the person along with the kind of physical activity he pr she indulges in family history of obesity and other related ailments is also taken into consideration when determining if the BMI is an indicator of possible health problems.
BMI is calculated in exactly the same technique for males, females and children. There is a certain formula to calculate the BMI of an individual. When using the metric system the weight of the person in kilograms is divided by the height of the person measured in meters squared. The example would be as follows:
Weight of the person = 68 kilos and height =165 cm (1.65 meters)
68/(1.65)2=24.98 BMI = 24.98 is the BMI.
How to interpret the derived BMI is a simple matter. Just compare it with the following data:
Below 18.5 Underweight, 18.5 – 24.9 Normal, 25.0 – 29.9 Overweight, 30.0 and above Obese
Best of luck!
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