Body mass index: how to determine and calculate your BMI?

The calculation of the body mass index is a value that serves to understand, in fact, one’s mass based on a relationship between weight and height.
It is a useful value to understand if an individual is within a range of body weight considered healthy or not. Body mass index: how to calculate it
Contents

• Body mass index: how to calculate it
  • Interpret the results
    • Underweight
    • Standard weight
    • Overweight
• My BMI is too high, what can i do to lose weight
• BMI for men and women: there are differences
  • The limits of the BMI values
• There are other parameters to consider
• When the BMI value is not considered significant
  • For whom is BMI less significant
• Achieve an ideal BMI starting with breakfast
• Conclusions

Calculating your body mass index is very simple; just follow this formula:

• Divide your weight (in kilograms) by your height (in meters);
• Divide the result by your height again to get your BMI;

So the body mass index formula is the following:
BMI = weight / height². Interpreting the results
If your BMI is below 18.5, you are considered underweight.
If your BMI is between 18 and 24.9, you are considered to be within a healthy weight range.
If your BMI is between 25.0 and 29.9, you are considered overweight.
If your BMI is over 30, you are considered obese. Underweight Underweight
can occur in several situations:

• Stress;
• Too much sport;
• Chronic diseases affecting the intestine;
• Malnutrition;
• Serious illness.

If your BMI is below 16 you are severely underweight, and you should see a specialist for help.
This condition brings with it weakness, and problems with concentration, among others, but in the long term it can have serious consequences for your health; it could in fact cause osteoporosis, and other diseases.
So, if you are underweight, always make sure you eat enough, starting with a good breakfast, to bring your weight back to normal. Normal
weight A weight considered in the standard refers to a value that can be attributed to many individuals considered healthy and which is not related to the onset of diseases.
If your BMI is between 17-18 for women, and up to 24 for men, you don’t need to worry about losing or gaining weight, which is why it is referred to as ‘normal weight’.
If your weight is not within these values, however, you should change your diet and try to exercise regularly to bring your BMI into a normal range. Overweight
It has been shown that a BMI that exceeds a value of 25-26, and which in some cases reaches 30 (obesity) increases the risk of health problems.
However, a high BMI does not always automatically mean that you are overweight (for example if you are an athlete), as the BMI calculator does not take into account your body composition.
If they think that your fat mass is higher than your muscle mass, it is advisable to consult a doctor to reduce weight by changing your eating habits, and dedicating yourself more to sports.
Even overweight or obesity if ignored can lead not only to minor ailments such as laziness or pain, but also more serious such as diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and in extreme cases even heart attacks. My BMI is too high, what can i do to lose weight
A good initial goal is to lose 10% of your body weight. While it’s not enough to get you back into a healthy weight range, it’s a great start if you’re overweight, and research shows it’s enough to reap health benefits, such as lowering your risk factors for type 2 diabetes. and heart disease.
We advise you to focus on realistic goals and to rely on a specialist, who will be able to advise you in more detail on the diet to follow, based not only on your BMI, but also on other parameters, such as lean mass, muscle mass, etc. . BMI for men and women: there are differences
BMI values ​​apply to both genders, as the same risks of developing weight-related diseases apply to both women and men.
Research warns us that high BMI values ​​correspond to an increased risk of a number of diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis and some cancers including cancer. breast.
However, the BMI values ​​for children are different. The Limits of BMI Values ​​BMI
values ​​are not always accurate for everyone. BMI values ​​do not take into account the differences between fat and muscle mass, so those who have quite visible muscle mass will also have a high BMI, even if their body fat corresponds to a value that is considered to be within the healthy range.
Furthermore, a healthy BMI is not always related to good health. In fact, research shows that one in three people with a normal BMI often find they have some other health problem, discovered by the results of other tests, such as those related to blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol.
One of the explanations is that BMI does not take body fat into consideration, and it is possible to have a healthy BMI, despite having a certain percentage of fat around the waist, a position that poses more of a health risk than to the weight carried on the hips and thighs. A 2017 study demonstrated this point, showing that people with a certain percentage of fat around the waist but with a normal BMI have higher risks than people with a higher BMI.
Some specialists assure that if they had to choose between making sure their BMI is within the normal range or the waist-to-hip ratio is within the normal range, they would choose the latter option. This is because abdominal fat carries serious health risks. There are other parameters to consider.There
are two that you should consider:

• Your waist-to-hip ratio: Divide your waist measurement (in centimeters) by your hip measurement (in centimeters). A waist-to-hip ratio greater than 0.9 for men and 0.85 for women indicates a higher health risk.
• Your waist-to-height ratio:

Divide your waist circumference (in centimeters) by your height (in centimeters).
Research shows that you need to keep your waist circumference less than half your height, or at a ratio of no more than 0.5. When the BMI value is not considered significant
BMI is not an absolute value and does not always provide a reliable value on your health status, as it is influenced by other parameters such as body composition, age, and lifestyle, which they are not taken into account in this calculation, but must be crossed to get a more precise value. For whom is BMI less significant

• People who train a lot with weights or have a large muscle mass: muscles have a certain weight, and this represents a greater load on the body and consequently a higher BMI value. Obviously, this value cannot mean that you are overweight due to your muscles.
• To better evaluate your weight and to have an overall picture of your health condition, it is advisable to do a body fat analysis;
• Extremely short or tall people;
• Young people: the table of BMI values ​​does not refer to people under the age of 18, as other guide values ​​apply to them;
• People over sixty: BMI can increase with age. This means that the weight value considered in the standard can almost reach a value of 30, which is normally considered in the standard;
• BMI values ​​are not the same for all ethnicities. For example, African Americans appear to have a higher BMI, while Thais appear to have a lower one.

Achieving an ideal BMI from breakfast
If your BMI is far enough from the norm, analyze your eating habits, your body composition and how healthy you feel. Know your daily calorie needs
If you still suspect that you are overweight or underweight, you definitely need to take action. It is advisable to have a balanced breakfast that will keep you well fed until the next meal.
Ideally, this breakfast should provide you with carbohydrates such as oatmeal, which will provide you with the energy you need to get through the morning.
Your breakfast should also include proteins and fats that keep you full, such as nuts and dairy products.
Whether you want to gain some weight, or lose it, a healthy breakfast will help you on your way. Conclusions
BMI provides a snapshot of how weight affects the risk of medical problems for a certain percentage of people, so while it may not be a perfect measure of risk for every individual, it is very valuable feedback for you.
Calculating BMI is a good idea, but it won’t give you complete feedback on your weight or health. No data should be viewed in isolation, so it’s really important to consider your BMI in the context of other information and values ​​about your body.