Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measurement of your weight-to-height ratio. Once calculated, BMI can be used as an indicator of obesity, underweight, or healthy range. Knowing your BMI, and aiming to keep it between 18.5 and 25 is ideal. BMI is much more convenient & less intrusive & confronting than using skin-fold calipers, or underwater weighing.
However, BMI will not be accurate for;
- People younger than 19 and older than 70
- Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding
- People who are chronically ill
- Competitive Athletes and Body Builders, as BMI does not take into account your percentage of body fat or lean muscle tissue. Athletes with lots of muscle mass could be perfectly healthy but not measure out well using a BMI calculator .
Another number to be aware of is your waist measurement, it’s quick & convenient.
The recommended maximum healthy waist size for women (unless pregnant) is 80cm, with 89+cm posing a high risk factor for Type II Diabetes and Heart Disease .
For men, 94cm indicates high risk, and 100+cm indicates an increased risk of Heart Disease and Type II Diabetes. Another simple guideline for both men & women (unless pregnant), is that your waist - when measured at your naval - should ideally be less than half your height. Eg: If you are 180cm tall, your waist measurement should be less than 90cm. Check your BMI now with our BMI calculator , then grab a tape measure and check your waist measurement.
If your results are in the unsafe range, please look after yourself, and see your Doctor.
Once you’ve made progress,
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, we’d love to hear from you, and we may feature your story on this website, so you can inspire others to do right by themselves too ;-)
Health & happiness,
Vicki ;-)
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