BMI Calculator

BMI	Status:
Below 18.5	Underweight
18.5-24.9	Healthy
25.0-29.9	Overweight
30.0+	Obese

Current Weight

Age

age adult child

Height

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inches 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Body Mass Index

As a measure, BMI became popular during the early 1950s and 60s as obesity started to become a discernible issue in prosperous Western societies. BMI provided a simple numeric measure of a person's "fatness" or "thinness", allowing health professionals to discuss over- and under-weight problems more objectively with their patients. However, BMI has become controversial because many people, including physicians, have come to rely on its apparent numerical authority for medical diagnosis, but that was never the BMI's purpose. It is meant to be used as a simple means of classifying sedentary (physically inactive) individuals with an average body composition. For these individuals, the current value settings are as follows: a BMI of 18.5 to 25 may indicate optimal weight; a BMI lower than 18.5 suggests the person is underweight while a number above 25 may indicate the person is overweight; a BMI below 17.5 may indicate the person has anorexia or a related disorder; a number above 30 suggests the person is obese (over 40, morbidly obese).