Body Mass Index

One of the major ways that doctors and health professionals are determining if you are overweight or underweight is through BMI. BMI stands for body mass index and this tool is a very practical way to see where you weight is in relation to your age, height, gender and other people in your category.

Body Mass Index calculators can be found throughout the internet, you can easily plug in a few numbers and select which category you fit into. For instance, you can state your gender, your height, age and current weight.

With this information the body mass index calculator can conveniently give you a number usually between 15 and 35. For instance, usually below a body mass index of 18.5 means that you are underweight, for a body mass index of 18.5 to 24.9, you are in the normal range acceptable. Over a body mass index of 25 means that you are either overweight or obese.

The body mass index is a great tool to get a general figure of where you stand. However it is not perfect. One of the issues is regarding athletes. If you are an athlete it may underestimate your muscle. However for the majority of the population it is an excellent tool to determine where you fit in weight wise. If you are looking for a great way to keep current in how your weight fits in with the rest of the population, look towards body mass index.

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