The World Health Organization’s classification for the European population says that BMI 18.5 to 15 shows a healthy weight.
Percent Fat Measuring
BMI is body mass index, and it is very often known as BMI, its English acronym. This index is generally accepted as a measure of the ideal weight. The World Health Organization also uses it in its statistics.
Body mass index is needed for evaluating the nutritional status and it is most practical for that. It is being calculated according to this formula: BMI = kg / m², meaning that the weight (in kilograms) is being divided by height squared (in meters).
For instance, if a person weighs 84 pounds and is 176 centimeters tall, their height squared is 1.76 x 1.76, or 3.0976.
Then, the body weight is being divided with this index (84 : 3.0976) and the result is body mass index with value of 27.
The classification of the World Health Organization for the European population says that when the body mass index is between 18.5 and 25, then the person has a healthy weight. If a person has BMI lower than 18.5, they are mal-nurtured, and if a person has BMI higher than 25, up to 30, they are overweight. People with BMI above 30 are considered to be obese. The person from the instance given above had BMI 27, meaning that they are overweight.
This body mass index number is not that precise measure, but it is an approximate one and it helps.
The body mass index is a good indication of the nutrition of a person. Still, it is not precise, and should only be taken as indicative measure. It cannot determine the physical proportions of a person’s body fat and their muscle and bone mass, which is the elementary criterion that assesses a person’s thinness or thickness.
For instance, the body mass index might be higher in people who are athletes, bodybuilders and heavyset, and this does not indicate that they are fat, but that they have higher muscle mass instead.
On the other hand, in elderly people, the numbers also differ, because they lose muscle and bone mass with time, so even lower body mass index scores may indicate overweight.
Precise analysis of the doctor
Your doctor can also make a precise analysis of your proportions, or you can do it by yourselves. The waist is often used as a parameter in determining obesity. If it is greater than 80 centimeters (for women) and 94 centimeters (for men), the person with these high numbers of waist width has abdominal obesity.
