As with all health calculations, this is an estimate of your weight and body fat. Since the only metrics used to calculate BMI are weight and height, it may overestimate body fat in athletes or people with large muscle mass. However, BMI is fairly indicative for 90-95% of the population and can be effectively used, along with other metrics, to determine a person’s healthy weight. BMI can also be used to calculate the ideal body weight (BMI) for men and women.
BMI applies to both adult men and women and is a calculation of weight and height. BMI is a measure of the relationship between height and weight, and it is an index that shows the ratio of weight to height squared (kg/m2). BMI is calculated by dividing weight (in kilograms) by height (in square meters). BMI can also be calculated by dividing your weight in pounds by the square of your height in inches and multiplying the result by 703.
BMI can be used to estimate the risk of developing certain health problems. Charting children’s BMI is a useful way to diagnose health problems early. If desired or necessary, other methods can be used instead of or in addition to BMI to measure body fat or assess health risk. BMI is a commonly accepted measure of body weight, and most medical professionals use BMI to classify people as normal weight, overweight, or obese.
For example, professional athletes are often overweight or obese when using BMI measurements due to their content of muscle, which weighs more than fat. BMI does not take into account the race of people, which can affect the health risks associated with weight and body composition, the amount of body mass that is made up of fat versus muscle mass. Body mass index is, in fact, a quantitative measure of the mass of tissue, that is, muscle, fat and bone, in a person. However, if you are an athlete or generally active person, your body weight may not be due to fat, but to muscle.