If you don’t know your Body Mass Index (BMI), kindly read this article to the end.
When you do, you will know what BMI means, how to calculate it and how it could affect your health.
There are also other issues you should know that centre around calculating your BMI and relying on it for your health decisions.
What Is BMI?
BMI is a calculation of your size that takes into account your height and weight.
The origin of BMI is over 200 years old, but its importance as a measure of health is fairly new.
BMI expresses the relationship between your height and weight. It looks at these measurements as a single number that is not dependent on “frame size.”
How Do I Calculate My BMI?
BMI = (Weight in Pounds x 703) / (Height in inches x Height in inches).
You can also scroll down to the BMI calculator at the lower part of our website to calculate your BMI.
Interestingly, the calculator makes it simple.
All you need to do is know your height and your weight. You can choose kilograms or pounds for the measurement.
Now that you have the figure, you should know what is normal and what is considered above your ideal weight.
What Is Normal BMI?
A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 25. After calculating and it falls within this range, it means that you are within an ideal weight.
You are considered to be above your weight if your figure is between 25.01 and 30.
When BMI is over 30, the person is considered to be walking into obesity.
Also, a person is considered underweight if the BMI is less than 18.5.
How Does This Affect Me?
A 2015 study, talking about the importance of the BMI, stressed that the common interpretation is that it represents an index of an individual’s fatness (1).
“It also is widely used as a risk factor for the development of or the prevalence of several health issues.
“In addition, it is widely used in determining public health policies.”
Indeed, once you know your ideal BMI, it helps you understand how much calories you may need each day. However, this depends on your activity level and other factors.
You will find your ideal weight and also know whether you need to lose weight or even gain a little weight. That is if you are underweight.
More so, another study of 2015 highlighted the link between being above your ideal weight and health issues (2).
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According to the study, the dramatic increase in the prevalence of obesity in most countries has been of great concern globally.
An estimated 3.4 million deaths occur around the world yearly due to obesity related issues.
It is also responsible for 4% of Years of Life Lost (YLL), and at least 4% of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) all around the world.
The research concluded that the health condition of persons’ with higher BMI is most often worse than people with normal weight.
Also, it emphasised that the life span of people who are above their ideal weight is on average shorter by two years.
Again, the COVID-19 era has also seen several links between level of infection and weight.
The World Health Organization has also emphasised the role obesity and weight higher than your BMI play in chronic diseases pandemic.
Conditions linked with obesity are diabetes, arthritis, liver disease and several types of cancer (such as those of the breast, colon, and prostate).
Others are high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol and sleep apnea.
Social Consequences Of Being Above Your Weight
Sadly, being above an deal weight does not only increase chances of health issues. Being “too fat” breeds social consequences.
One is discrimination which often begins at childhood and results in serious emotional scars.
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Also, persons considered to be too fat have had to face career limits.
Another issue with having a BMI that is beyond the ideal is societal stigmatisation and this often impairs a person’s ability to express his/her intellectual and other talents.
Unfortunately, they become underachievers.
What BMI Does Not Reveal
As with most scientific measurements of health, BMI is not a perfect test.
For instance, it does not take some other factors into consideration. A woman that is pregnant could have a high figure.
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As a result, it is a rather poor indicator of percent of body fat.
Importantly, this measurement does not capture information on the mass of fat in different body sites.
Because of this short comings, it is important to take into consideration other factors like genetics before concluding that a person’s weight could result in certain health issues.
Kindly share with your friends and loved ones to enable them know why they need to know they BMI.