How To Calculate BMI - Body Mass Index

TheIndonesia.id - Body mass index (BMI) is an estimate of body fat based on weight and height. This calculation can help determine whether you are underweight, a healthy weight, overweight, or obese. So, how to calculate BMI?

BMI is used to assess the risk of certain health problems related to weight. For example, people in the overweight category are considered to have a greater risk of experiencing high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

How to Calculate Body Mass Index

There are several ways to calculate body mass index depending on the type of measurement you are taking. Make sure you know your current height and weight before you start calculating.

Using Metric Measurements

With the metric system, the BMI formula is body weight (kg) divided by height (m2). Since height is usually measured in centimeters, an alternative calculation formula is dividing weight in kilograms by height in centimeters squared, and then multiplying by 10,000.

Formula:

weight (kg) : [height (m)]2

or

[weight (kg) : height (cm) : height (cm)] x 10,000

When using an electronic calculator

• If your calculator has a quadratic function, divide your weight (kg) by your height (cm) squared, multiply by 10,000, and round to one decimal place.
• If your calculator doesn't have a quadratic function, divide your weight by your height twice, as shown in the calculation formula above, multiply by 10.00, and round to one decimal place.

Using Imperial Measurements

The imperial BMI formula is more frequently used in the United States. Therefore, this formula uses pounds for weight and inches for height. If you want to use this formula but are familiar with kilograms and meters, then you must convert your weight and height to the units used.

How to use the imperial formula, namely weight (pounds) divided by height (inches), squared, and then multiplied by a conversion factor that is worth 703. So the formula looks like this:

[(pounds x 703): inches2)

Normal BMI and Good Health

Excess body fat is associated with an increased risk of health problems. BMI scores in the overweight and obese categories can indicate that a person is at high risk for certain diseases, such as:

• Heart disease.
• High blood pressure.
• Cancer.
• Osteoarthritis.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Gallstones.
• Sleep apnea.
• High cholesterol.
• Heart problem.

On the other hand, you may have a normal BMI but still, have a high health risk. For example, maybe your BMI is within the normal range, but you are not physically active, have a poor diet, and have a family history of disease or active smoking. All of these things can affect the risk of several health problems.

Older people can have a normal BMI but have significant health problems such as the hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). So you should avoid making the BMI score a definite benchmark to describe health conditions. You still need some health pictures with other supporting examinations.