While there is still a lot of debate about which measure most accurately predicts risk, it has been shown that each of these three measures – BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio – are all useful guides. YOUR WAISTE SHOULD BE EQUAL TO OR LESS THAN THIS IN CENTIMETRES So for example, if you are 170cm tall, your waist circumference should be no more than 85 cm. It’s easy to remember the guideline: your waist circumference should not exceed half of your height. Again, there’s some debate about what the actual cut-off points should be, but to a certain degree this is just semantics what you need to understand is your health risk increases as your girth increases. For bigger people, measure the waist at the widest point. The waist is halfway between the bottom of the ribs and the top of the hips (usually around the belly button). There are two simple measures that have been shown to also be good indicators of abdominal obesity and its accompanying health risk. Are there other measures of body fatness we could use? And if you are overweight as measured by the BMI, being fit and overweight is much healthier than being unfit and overweight. It actually works on a continuum, so that as your BMI increases past the healthy range (or decreases below it), your risk of health problems increases too. Your health risk doesn’t suddenly increase dramatically when you go from a BMI of 29 to a BMI of 30, for example. Remember too that the cut-offs are only arbitrary guides. This is not an exhaustive list, but you get the general picture: being overweight or obese is not good for us. And while they might not kill you, being overweight or obese also makes it more likely you’ll suffer from osteoarthritis, gout, gallstones, sleep apnoea and decreased fertility. Overweight or obesity often, but not always, results in high blood pressure, high cholesterol and abnormal blood glucose responses, which in turn are key in the development of heart disease, stroke, several common cancers, as well as type 2 diabetes. Why should we care about body fat anyway?Įxcess body weight is one of the most important risk factors for diseases that are killing us that we can actually change. Who shouldn’t use the BMI?Īthletes with higher amounts of muscle mass, women who are pregnant or lactating, growing children and young people, and the elderly who have lost muscle mass are advised not to use the BMI. If you are concerned about your weight, it’s a good idea to raise this with your GP, or see a dietitian or nutritionist, to discuss your individual situation. If you don’t think the BMI is useful for you, then we suggest it’s best not to use it. Other measures could then be used to see whether or not that individual had any health issues that may be related to their weight. Often BMI is used as an initial screening tool to identify people who may have health problems associated with being under- or overweight, but it is not a diagnostic tool. It is less reliable for any one individual. There is a wealth of research showing that BMI correlates well to body fatness in large groups of people. It is a useful screening tool to identify whether or not a person might have a weight-related health issue. However, we need to remember it is not directly measuring fat, as it only takes into account height and weight. What is BMI designed to do?īMI is used as a simple tool used to estimate body fatness. The formula is your weight divided by your height squared (BMI = kg/m 2). The formula is used to determine the amount of body fat that you carry. If you are over 18 years, you can use an adult calculator to find out whether you are a healthy weight.The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a calculation of the ratio between your weight and your height. This calculator can be used for children and teenagers from 2 years through to 18 years of age. This is the complete list of health and nutritional assessment you can find in the. Who is the healthy weight calculator for? The Health Check app is the tool you need to start your health journey. You can find out if a child or teenager is a healthy weight for their age using the healthy weight calculator. How do I know if my child or teenager is healthy weight? This is called a healthy weight for their age. It’s not always easy to tell if a child is a healthy weight for their age and height.Ĭhildren and teenagers need to grow, but they are healthiest if they stay within a certain weight range as they grow. See your GP or local health professional if you are concerned about your child’s growth or development. It is not intended to be a substitute for advice from a health professional. This calculator provides a general guide to healthy weight in children and teenagers. The BMI will now display when the mouse is hovered over the grey marker tooltip for the BMI scale. A recent update to the calculator requires all users to perform a refresh of the webpage by pressing CTRL SHIFT R simultaneously.
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