How to Lose Weight today

The body mass index (BMI), or Quetelet index, is a controversial statistical measurement which compares a person’s weight and height. Though it does not actually measure the percentage of body fat, it is a useful tool to estimate a healthy body weight based on how tall a person is. Due to its ease of measurement and calculation, it is the most widely used diagnostic tool to identify weight problem within a population including: underweight, overweight and obesity. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing “social physics”. Body mass index is defined as the individual’s body weight divided by the square of his or her height.

As a measure, BMI became popular during the early 1950s and 60s as obesity started to become a discernible issue in prosperous Western societies. BMI provided a simple numeric measure of a person’s “fatness” or “thinness”, allowing health professionals to discuss over- and under-weight problems more objectively with their patients. However, BMI has become controversial because many people, including physicians, have come to rely on its apparent numerical authority for medical diagnosis, but that was never the BMI’s purpose. It is meant to be used as a simple means of classifying sedentary (physically inactive) individuals with an average body composition.

For these individuals, the current value settings are as follows:

• a BMI below 17.5 may indicate the person has anorexia nervosa or a related disorder;
• a BMI of 18.5 to 25 may indicate optimal weight;
• a BMI lower than 18.5 suggests the person is underweight;
• a BMI above 25 may indicate the person is overweight;
• a number above 30 suggests the person is obese (over 40, morbidly obese).

Read more about Body Mass Index at Wikipedia

Another BMI calculator at National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute