Summer BanksBody Mass Index and Working
August 6th 2006 00:47
BMI for boys
BMI comparison
BMI for girls
Because both height and weight are important to help determine if someone is overweight, scientists came up with a mathematical formula called Body Mass Index (BMI). This simple measurement helps doctors determine whether their patients are at a healthy weight or need to lose or gain a few pounds.
Definition :
Body Mass Index is a calculation that takes into consideration both a person's body weight and height to determine whether they are underweight, overweight, or at a healthy weight. It can be calculated in inches and pounds (in the United States), or meters and kilograms (in countries that use the metric system).
In inches, the formula looks like this:
[ weight in pounds
(height in inches) x (height in inches) ] x 703
A person who weighs 180 pounds and is 5 feet 8 inches tall has a BMI of 27.4.
[ 180 lbs
(68 inches) x (68 inches) ] x 703 = 27.4
In meters, the formula looks like this:
[ weight in kilograms
(height in meters) x (height in meters) ]
A person who weighs 99.79 kilograms and is 1.905 meters (190.50 centimeters) tall has a BMI of 27.5.
[ 99.79 Kg
(1.905 m) x (1.905 m) ] = 27.5
Do Children have a different BMI?
Young children naturally start out with high body fat, but tend to get leaner as they get older. Girls and boys also have different body compositions. To take into account the differences between boys and girls and children of different ages, scientists have created a special BMI for children, called BMI-for-age.
Doctors use a set of growth charts to track the development of children and young adults between the ages of two and 20. The BMI-for-age figures in a child's height, weight, and age to determine how much body fat he has. It compares the results to those of other children of the same age and gender, and can help predict whether children will be at risk for being overweight when they get older.
History of BMI :
Using a formula to calculate obesity is not a new concept. In the nineteenth century, a Belgian statistician named Adolphe Quetelet came up with the Quetelet Index of Obesity, which measured obesity by dividing a person's weight (in kilograms) by the square of his or her height (in inches).
Formula: w/h2
Before 1980, doctors generally used weight-for-height tables -- one for men and one for women -- that included ranges of body weights for each inch of height. These tables were limited because they were based on weight alone, rather than body composition. BMI became an international standard for obesity measurement in the 1980s. The public learned about BMI the late 1990s, when the government launched an initiative to encourage healthy eating and exercise.
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