(BMI) Body Mass Index

Last updated on September 12th, 2021 at 11:14 am

Body mass index (BMI) is explained to be a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square height in meters.

It has been said that BMI does not diagnose the body fatness or health of an individual.

BMI is said to be used for screening weight categories that may cause a health problem.

Even though it has been said that BMI does not measure body fat directly, but is said is correlated with measures of body fat. 

Body Mass Index Calculation

BMI calculation formula is as follows:

The standard weight categories related to BMI for adults 20 years and above are as follows:

(Note: same categories are used for males and females regardless of the body type)       

BMI Interpretation for Children 

According to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), BMI is an instrument for diagnosis but is used as a screening tool for potential weight and other health-related problems.

Body mass index among children and teens is more age and sex-specific, it is frequently referred to as BMI for age.

BMI works as one of the tools to screen weight-related issues among children and teens.

It also has been stated that if the BMI is high of a child for their age and sex, a health professional may go for further diagnosis to see if the excess fat is a problem or not.

The diagnosis is said to involve skinfold thickness measurements, the evolution of diet, physical activity, family history, and other required health screening.

BMI is said to be calculated for children and teens differently even though the same formula is used as of BMI interpretation for adults, age and sex are taken in factor while measuring a child or a teenagers BMI as the amount of body fat is said to change with age and the amount of body fat differs among the sexes. 

Healthy weight status among children and teens is said to be between the 5^th and 85^th percentile on the CDC growth chart but also has been stated that it is difficult to provide a healthy weight range among children and teens as the BMI interpretation for them highly depends on their age, sex, height, and weight. 

Effect of BMI on Lifetime Risk of Diabetes

Research conducted by American Diabetes Association showed that the lifetime risk of diabetes among individuals with a BMI of 30 kg/m2  is higher than among other individuals.

Having a note of one’s BMI is considered to be helpful to make an Individual aware of the risk of high BMI and helps them do the necessary to reduce the risk. 

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Hypertension and BMI 

It has been noted through a study that high BMI is associated with pre-hypertension suggesting that individuals with high BMI have more chances of developing frank hypertension.

Among the participants of the study, it was noted that participants with normally BMI had 45% chances of having hypertension whereas participants with overweight BMI had 65% more likely to develop issue hypertension, obese category’s participants were 79% more likely to develop hypertension which incidents that higher BMI leads to having issues with hypertension.

BMI and Heart Disease 

Researches at John Hopkins have found that among more than 9500 individuals who were observed (aged 53 to 73, who were free of heart disease) it was noted that BMI was strongly related to troponin levels (higher the BMI higher the troponin level).

Later it was observed that individuals who had a high BMI of 35 or higher (obese category) had developed heart failures, showing the link between high BMI and risk of heart disease.

It also has been noted that for every five-point increase in BMI the probability of having a cardiac arrest rose by 32%.      

See also: Cardiovascular Disease | History in Nepal

How to Maintain a Healthy BMI ?

It has been suggested that a healthy relation between energy gained through food and energy excreted through physical activity helps in maintaining a healthy BMI.

A healthy diet is also suggested and if is overweight or obese it is suggested that he/she should rescue daily intake by 500 calories for better BMI ratio, it suggested that one should be physically active and limit physically inactive time.              

(Note- readers are requested not to take the content given above as a substitute for a professional’s advice.)

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