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What is the BMI?
The BMI, or Body Mass Index, is a screening tool to estimate if your weight is too much for your height. BMI is a good estimate of body fat for most people. For an average adult, a BMI over 25 would be considered at risk for obesity-related diseases (like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and accidental injuries).
In some cases, a very muscular person might have considerably more muscle weight than the average person at that height. At a BMI of 26 or 27, he would not be considered obese, since the extra weight is not from fat. (Increased muscle mass would only add one or two points to the BMI estimate.)
If an adult's BMI is over 30, this would be considered "obese" and would generally indicate that the weight is more than 50 pounds over a healthy weight.
For children, the healthy weight for height varies with age. A BMI above the 95th percentile for a given age would be considered "obese". However, a BMI above the 85th percentile is considered at high risk for becoming obese and for getting health problems associated with obesity even during childhood. With the increase in overweight children during the last few decades, we are seeing a huge increase in diabetes among those overweight children.
To calculate an adult's BMI, or to calculate a child's BMI and percentile for age, just click the following link:
A more detailed discussion of BMI can be found on the Physician Resources page of this website. It will show how to estimate a healthy BMI level for each child's age, by taking "Age + 10" to estimate the 85th percentile. Under age 7, the healthy BMI level is under 17. Over 15 years old, the adult level of 25 holds true.
