Being overweight or obese is a common cause of serious illnesses such as stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and many cancers. If you are interested in maintaining a healthy body, you need to learn about the Healthy Weight Calculator.

First, you need to have a good understanding of BMI. It will help you understand your body by checking whether your weight and height are suitable.

I’ll share information about BMI, calculation formula, healthy weight calculator, and more. Let's find out together in this article!

What Is A BMI?

Body mass index (BMI) is a measurement of a person's weight relative to his or her height. Because of its accuracy and convenience, BMI has become the go-to indicator for body weight versus height.

Specifically, it includes values that describe underweight, average weight, and obesity. Based on these values, it will be easy to know if you need any tests, medical checks, or changes in nutritional needs.

Key Factors Influencing BMI

With that said, BMI is not a perfect measure of a person's health. Many factors affect the results of the weight calculator. In other words, BMI includes age, sex, and height. Continue scrolling down to understand the details!

Age

Age is the most influential factor for BMI in women aged 14-15, men at 16-17 years old, and adults. As a rule, your lean body mass index tends to decrease while excess fat increases. Everyone has to go through this natural process.

Fortunately, you can lessen its impact by practicing healthy lifestyle habits like exercising, reducing stress, and improving sleep.

Gender

Although women are generally lighter than men, their body fat percentage is higher. In other words, the male body has a lot more muscle mass than fat.

On the other hand, women's bone density is relatively low, so the average weight ratio for height is lower than that of men.

Height

Body fat in tall people is more than in short people. Therefore, you will quickly come across people with the same weight but very different BMI.

BMI For Children And Adults

In the next section, I will present the healthy BMI range for adults and children. Continue reading to see if the BMI range applies to everyone.

First, let’s check the BMI table for adults from 20 years of age and older.

Type	BMI Range (kg/m2)
Obese Class	From 30 and up
Overweight	From 25 to less than 30
Normal	From 18.5 to less than 25
Mild Thinness	From 17 to under 18.5
Moderate Thinness	From 16 to under 17
Severe Thinness	Under 16

The BMI table for children from 2 to under 20 years old is different in classification and units compared to adults. It includes four main categories.

Type	BMI ranges
Underweight	Less than 5%
Healthy weight	From 5% to 85%
At risk of overweight	From 85% to 95%
Overweight	Over 95%

Effects of Being Underweight and Overweight 

You must be wondering what the health risks are if you are overweight or underweight. Don't worry, and I will answer these questions in the presentation below to calculate BMI. Keep reading for details!

Being Overweight

Many health organizations have recommended that being overweight increases your risk of severe diseases and adversely affects your health. We list the most noticeable risks in the section below:

• Increases blood pressure
• Increases LDL cholesterol and lowers HDL cholesterol, causing high triglycerides
• Increased health risk of type I diabetes, coronary heart disease, gallbladder disease
• Stroke
• Break down joint cartilage and cause osteoarthritis
• Respiratory depression and even sleep apnea
• Potential for some dangerous cancers such as endometrial, breast, kidney, gallbladder, colon, and liver
• Minimize the life quality
• Mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety
• Always feel body composition pain and difficulty performing physical exercises

In short, people with a BMI that is too high, i.e., overweight, will increase the risk of death compared to healthy BMI people.

Being Underweight

Being underweight is the most basic sign of bad changes in body fat. You may also want to know the common risks that a low BMI can lead to:

• Lack of essential nutrients such as vitamins leads to malnutrition and anemia. It causes a significant impediment to the circulation and transport of blood.
• Causes bone thinning and weakness, increasing fractures
• Weakened immune function of the body fat
• Children and adolescents will naturally slow down and grow poorly.
• Women are more likely to experience fertility problems such as hormonal imbalances, menstrual cycle disruptions, and miscarriages.

BMI Formula 

Many BMI formulas have been developed to facilitate feet inches weight calculations, specifically the healthy BMI for women and men. 

First, I will explain the calculation equations provided that the base weight is in the same format as the 5-foot height.

Each formula will come with its intended use. For example, the Hamwi recipe is ideal for medicinal purposes. Meanwhile, Devine (1974) has become an essential factor for calculating normal BMI for women.

In international units, BMI calculation is also applied through these equations:

• USC unit:

BMI=703Weight( lb)Height2 (inch)=703 ×160702=22.96 (kg/m2)

• SI Unit:

BMI=Weight ( kg) Height2 (m)=72.571.782=22.90 (kg/m2)

Cons of Using BMI

BMI is undeniably a helpful indicator, and it helps users better orient toward their body fat. However, this indicator still has limitations.

The distribution of muscle, bone, and fat content in the body weight differs for each person. Accordingly, BMI cannot account for the entire body fat composition and is only an estimate.

You should not use BMI alone but combine it with other measurements to check your health conditions. Next, let's dive into the typical limitations of BMI for each subject, including adults and children.

For adults

BMI measures body fat, not your total body mass index. It is also influenced by related factors such as muscle mass, gender, ethnicity, and living conditions.

If you want to know how BMI miscalculates an adult's body fat condition, try testing it with older adults and athletes:

• Athletes or people with regular bodybuilding are severely overweight when only considering BMI. But the truth is not; their same BMI is higher because they have more muscle mass.
• Older adults are another prime example. Since people tend to accumulate fat as they age, even if they are sedentary, they are at a healthy weight.

For adolescents and children

Similar to adults, BMI-limiting factors may apply to children and adolescents. Plus, it would help if you considered both height and gender maturity, which are factors that significantly influence children's BMI and low body fat levels.

Children's BMI difference is because parents have increased fat or body composition, including water, muscle, and other organs.

FAQs 

What foods make your waist smaller?

To maintain a slim waistline, you must consider some essential foods like fruits, fish, nuts, green vegetables, and oatmeal.

Is a 34-inch waist fat?

The answer is no for both men and women. The ideal waist circumference for women is under 34.5 inches, and for men is under 40 inches. Exceeding this number, you are susceptible to dangerous diseases such as type 2.1 diabetes.

Where do you lose weight first?

The position that should prioritize normal weight loss first in men and women is different. If you're female, you'll probably want to lose a person's weight all over your body but keep the weight on your thighs and hips. 

On the contrary, I recommend you prioritize the abdomen if you are a male.

What is the average waist size for a woman?

Compared to a decade ago, the average US women's waist circumference is 38.7 inches (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Is it better to walk faster or longer?

The answer is to walk faster. When looking at walking data on 78,500 people, it was found that brisk walking reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease control, and death more than walking at a low speed.

Conclusion 

All methods and formulas for calculating BMI have limitations, which also means that they cannot be accurate for each individual.

Therefore, you need to understand that the healthy weight calculator's results are flexible and optional for you to follow to reach your ideal weight.

Thank you for reading!