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BMI calculator

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BMI is a rough population measure, not a diagnosis. It says nothing about where weight sits or how much of it is muscle.

Body mass index22.9

A healthy weight

70 kg at 175 cm — 5 ft 9 in

The short answer

BMI is your weight in kilograms divided by the square of your height in metres. At 175 cm and 70 kg it comes out at 22.9, which counts as a healthy weight. That is 5 ft 9 in and 154 lb, and the tool takes either.

Your height and weight stay in this tab. They are health data, and health data is exactly the kind of thing that should not be posted to a server to divide two numbers.

The formula

BMI = kg ÷ m²

Worked examples

70 kg at 175 cm
22.9 — a healthy weight
95 kg at 180 cm
29.3 — overweight
52 kg at 168 cm
18.4 — underweight

Reference table

Adult BMI categories
BMICategoryAt 175 cm (5 ft 9 in), that isThe same weight in pounds
Under 18.5Underweightunder 57 kgunder 125 lb
18.5 to 25A healthy weight57 kg to 77 kg125 lb to 169 lb
25 to 30Overweight77 kg to 92 kg169 lb to 203 lb
30 to 40Obese92 kg to 123 kg203 lb to 270 lb

How to use it

  1. 01Enter your weight and heightWeight in kilograms, pounds or stones; height in centimetres or feet and inches. Each field has its own unit, so kilograms with feet is fine.
  2. 02Read the figure and the bandThe number is pinned at the bottom with the band it falls in as its caption, and the scale above shows how close you are to the next band.

Also searched for

Searches that land here include bmi calculator, body mass index, healthy weight range, bmi chart adults, bmi calculator in feet and inches and bmi calculator with pounds and stones.

About BMI

What it does and does not measure

BMI is weight divided by height squared. That is the whole of it. It was devised to describe populations, not individuals, and it cannot tell muscle from fat or say where on a body the weight sits. A rugby forward and a sedentary person of the same build can return the same figure. It is a useful first screen and a poor last word.

Questions people ask

Is this accurate for children?

No. Children are assessed against age-and-sex percentile charts rather than the adult bands, because a growing body changes ratio constantly. Ask a GP or practice nurse rather than a calculator.