BMI Chart to Determine Your Body Mass Index

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The bmi chart below allows you to determine your body mass index and, in theory, your risk from obesity associated diseases.

Body mass index uses your height and weight to determine whether you are considered overweight, normal, underweight or even obese. Yet, despite being used by many physicians and nutritionists, body mass index has its limitations. A bmi chart cannot determine with any degree of accuracy how much of your weight consists of fat and how much consists of lean mass such as bone and muscle.

So if you’re an athlete or if you lift weights, there’s a good chance a bmi table will put you in the overweight category even though you may have very little body fat. Similarly, you may have lost considerable muscle due to an injury and inactivity rest. A bmi chart may place you in the normal weight category but you could potentially still have an unhealthy amount of body fat.

So bear these things in mind when you take your score below!

BMI Chart (Height in feet/inches, Weight in lbs)

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Starting with the left hand colum, find your height and then move across to the right to find your weight.
  • Move up to the top row to get your BMI score

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What Your BMI Score Means

Now that you’ve obtained a score from the bmi chart what does it mean? Take a look at the body mass index table below to find out…

Risk of Associated Disease According to BMI and Waist Size
BMI Waist less than or equal to
40 in. (men) or
35 in. (women)		 Waist greater than
40 in. (men) or
35 in. (women)
18.5 or less Underweight — N/A
18.5 – 24.9 Normal — N/A
25.0 – 29.9 Overweight Increased High
30.0 – 34.9 Obese High Very High
35.0 – 39.9 Obese Very High Very High
40 or greater Extremely Obese Extremely High Extremely High

Notice that there are two extra columns for waist measurement? A physician may use this in conjunction with your body mass index to assess your risk category more accurately.

Remember that a body mass index has its limitations and is most useful for researchers looking at population trends as a whole. For more accurate ways on determining you body fat percentage, have a look at some of the other articles on this section of the site.