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Body Mass Index (BMI)

The most widely used measure of obesity has been the Body Mass Index (BMI). It is calculated as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters (kg/m2). This value is independent of age or sex.

There are certain limitations to the use of BMI, including:

Children (who are still growing)
Pregnant women
Very muscular individuals, such as athletes

For purposes of the calculation below, enter your weight in pounds and your height in feet & inches and the necessary conversions will be performed during the calculation of the body mass index.

WEIGHT in pounds?
HEIGHT? feet inches
In the First Federal Obesity Clinical Guidelines (released June 1998), overweight was defined as a body mass index value between 25 and 29.9; and obesity was defined as a body mass index value greater than or equal to 30. According to this report, an estimated 97 million adults in the United States are overweight or obese.


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