BMI: What is It, and How is It Important?

We hear a lot about BMI these days when it comes to health and weight loss, but what does it really mean? BMI stands for Body Mass Index, which is a number that is calculated from weight and height. This number is the percentage of your total weight is from fat. Basically, the higher this number is, the more body fat a person has.

A healthy BMI ranges between 20 and 25. One is considered to be overweight if their BMI is between 25 and 35. Here are some more facts and figures:

• If you have a BMI below 18.5, you are considered to be underweight.
• If you have a BMI over 35, you are considered to be obese. There are three obesity classes: 30-34.9 is Class 1; 35-39.9 is Class 2; and 40 and above is Class 3.
• If you are a man with a waist size of more than 40 inches, you are at a higher risk for health problems due to obesity.
• If you are a woman with a waist size of more than 35 inches, you are at a higher risk for obesity-related health issues.

BMI and Young People

The normal way of calculating BMI only works for adults. There is a completely different chart used for those who are under the age of 20. This calculation is also different for males and females, because depending on the age, they could be still growing, or still going through puberty, which can really play a role in calculating BMI in young people.

How to Calculate Your BMI

There are a number of ways that your BMI index can be used. If you have a high BMI, it is a good idea to make an appointment with your doctor to have a complete physical. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to have health problems, but since a high BMI can lead to many issues, it is a good idea to have a check up. Your physician will do his or her own tests such as physical activity testing and skin-fold tests and compare those numbers to your BMI number. Your doctor will also want to know about your diet and exercise routines, and may suggest a number of changes for you to make in order to lower your BMI, especially if there are any health risks detected.

The first thing you will need to do is calculate your BMI to see if you should go see your doctor. This is easy to do, with or without a calculator. The simplest way to calculate your BMI is to divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches squared. Take this number and multiply it by 703. There are a number of health and diet websites where you can find charts and calculators that will help you to determine your BMI.

Other Influences on Body Fat

Any of the charts and calculators you use to find out your BMI are not going to be totally accurate, but you will get results that are fairly close. The reason for this is that there are other things that come into play that have a role in your body fat. One good example is the fact that muscle weighs more than fat. So, if a person is muscular and weighs a certain amount, he or she will still be in great shape, while someone who does not have a lot of muscle weighs the same and are the same height and body type, they are likely to be overweight. They may have the same BMI, but there is a huge difference in the amount of body fat that they have.

Women tend to have a higher BMI than men, even if they are not overweight or obese. This is because they have larger hips, and breasts, so they automatically have more body fat than the average man would. This of course does not have any negative health effects, and whether you are a man or a woman, remember, you need to have a certain amount of body fat in order to be strong and healthy.

The Dangers of Having a High BMI

If you have a high BMI, you are at risk for a number of health problems, some of which can be extremely serious. High blood pressure is one of the most common health issue for those who are overweight or obese, and it can lead to heart disease and heart attacks. Diabetes is another issue to worry about if you are overweight. In addition to serious health problems, when you have a high BMI, you tend to not have much energy, so you do not get nearly as much exercise as you should be, if any at all. When you are not getting exercise, your muscles get lazy, and you end up producing even more body fat. This becomes a vicious cycle, and the worse it gets, the worse your health issues could end up being.

It is very important to understand BMI, and to know what your BMI is. If it is too high or too low, you are going to need to make some significant changes to your diet in order to be able to remain healthy and avoid a lot of serious health problems. If you have questions about your BMI and how to go about lowering it, you and your physician can come up with a diet and exercise plan that works for you, with foods you will enjoy eating. You can design an exercise plan around activities you enjoy, you will continue to do these exercises daily and not get bored with them.

Sometimes, when it comes to diet and nutrition, it can seem like there are so many different terms that you will never be able to understand all of them. It is not actually necessary to know everything there is to know about diet and nutrition. Just make sure that you know how to calculate your BMI, and that you know what to do if you don’t like the results. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do these calculations, or to make healthy lifestyle changes that will help to get your BMI to a healthy number.