Body Mass Index (BMI)

Body Mass Index (BMI) can be a means of assisting parents and teachers in the early detection of body weight problems that may jeopardize the health of children and youth. Obesity in children (as well as adults) is an increasingly serious health problem in North America.

BMI is one means of providing a general estimate of body fatness. Although there are several more precise ways of measuring one's body fat percentage, these methods are used because it requires no special equipment or training in technical procedures. All that is needed is accurate determination of height (in meters) and weight (in kilograms). You can look it up on the chart below or do the calculations yourself.

BMI= wt/ht2 (height squared)

Body Mass Index Chart
Below are weight ranges for different body mass index (BMI) scores.

 
WEIGHT 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 155 160 165 170 175 180 185 190 195 200 205 210 215
HEIGHT                                                
5'0" 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
5'1" 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 36 37 38 39 40
5'2" 18 19 20 21 22 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 33 34 35 36 37 38 39
5'3" 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
5'4" 17 18 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
5'5" 16 17 18 19 20 20 21 22 23 24 25 25 26 27 28 29 30 30 31 32 33 34 35 35
5'6" 16 17 17 18 19 20 21 21 22 23 24 25 25 26 27 28 29 29 30 31 32 33 34 34
5'7" 15 16 17 18 18 19 20 21 22 22 23 24 25 25 26 27 28 29 29 30 31 32 33 33
5'8" 15 16 16 17 18 19 19 20 21 22 22 23 24 25 25 26 27 28 28 29 30 31 32 32
5'9" 14 15 16 17 17 18 19 20 20 21 22 22 23 24 25 25 26 27 28 28 29 30 31 31
5'10" 14 15 15 16 17 18 18 19 20 20 21 22 23 23 24 25 25 26 27 28 28 29 30 30
5'11" 14 14 15 16 16 17 18 18 19 20 21 21 22 23 23 24 25 25 26 27 28 28 29 30
6'0" 13 14 14 15 16 17 17 18 19 19 20 21 21 22 23 23 24 25 25 26 27 27 28 29
6'1" 13 13 14 15 15 16 17 17 18 19 19 20 21 21 22 23 23 24 25 25 26 27 27 28
6'2" 12 13 14 14 15 16 16 17 18 18 19 19 20 21 21 22 23 23 24 25 25 26 27 27
6'3" 12 13 13 14 15 15 16 16 17 18 18 19 20 20 21 21 22 23 23 24 25 25 26 26
6'4" 12 12 13 14 14 15 15 16 17 17 18 18 19 20 20 21 22 22 23 23 24 25 25 26
  Underweight (BMI less than 18.5)
  Healthy weight (BMI 18.5 to 24.9)
  Overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9)
  Obese (BMI 30 to 39.9)
  Extremely obese (BMI 40 and above)

 


BASED ON CLINICAL GUIDELINES ON THE IDENTIFICATION, EVALUATION, AND TREATMENT OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY IN ADULTS. NHLBI OBESITY EDUCATION INITIATIVE. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, 1998.