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If you have been reading about obesity and weight loss, you may have encountered the term body mass index (BMI) a couple of times. While BMI is not originally used to diagnose individuals, it is now one of the more popular measures that determine whether or not a person is obese. It is a statistical measure that determines weight patterns in a given population.

History of BMI Calculation

The use of the BMI was first made popular during the early 1950s and 1960s. It originally represented a number that measured how fat or thin a person was. The idea of taking the BMI gained massive attention mainly because of the emergence of obesity in Western society. Interestingly, this measure was used by health care professionals to discuss the issue of overweight or underweight to their patients without offending them. After all, BMI offered a more objective view of conditions that normally drove people up the wall.

The only controversy attached to this concept was on how it became a numerical authority of medical diagnosis. Everything was based on the BMI. For instance, if you have a BMI of 18.5 to 25, you are declared healthy, weight-wise. Something below that range is already considered a characteristic of anorexia or in terms of a person, such is already considered a candidate for the said illness. That is probably true but only up to some extent. There really are thin people who do not suffer from a mental illness like anorexia but have that kind of BMI because of hormone issues.
During the recent years, the body mass index is taken as a head start in determining the condition of the individual.

Calculate your BMI Index

Your BMI is basically your body weight divided by the square of your height. The unit of measure is kg/m2. The formula is as follows:

Interpreting your Adult BMI Test

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention with the World Health Organization has provided certain guidelines on the use of BMI to determine weight problems. A BMI of below 18.5 is usually taken as a sign of malnutrition or an eating disorder such as anorexia or any other health problem for that matter. Those who have a BMI of over 25 are considered overweight and those who have more than 30 for BMI are obese.


From these values, certain body mass index categories are derived. From starvation which has a BMI of less than 16.5 to morbidly obese that has over 40 for BMI, these statistical categories are mostly used on adults.