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Calculating Your Unique BMI Number

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You may ask yourself, what's a healthy body weight for me? Am I overweight or am I underweight? This question doesn't offer a "one size fits all number", because healthy weight measurements are unique for everyone, as we are all unique individuals of different heights, body types, ethnicity, genders, and ages, among a myriad of other factors.

Defining What Comprises Healthy Weight

When gauging how healthy your weight might be, two typical methods are employed in Western medicine. Both the your Body Mass Index (BMI) and your waist circumference is usually the most effective and accurate manner of assessing how healthy your weight is. However, those with high muscle mass, such as body builders, might not be good candidates for …show more content…

Subsequent to exhaling, an accurate measure of the waist can be obtained.

Calculating Your Unique BMI Number

An adult BMI, which is employed for adults 20 years of age or over 20, is calculated by taking your weight in pounds divided by the square of your height in inches. When calculating the BMI of adult men and women, both the calculation and numeric BMI values are the same, though women do have a tendency of having more body fat than men.

Children and teenagers' BMI are calculated in the same manner as an adult's BMI. However, children and teenagers' BMIs depend upon their age and sex due to fluctuating body fat as they continue to grow and develop. Further, girls and boys' body fat can vary significantly. Various charts that illustrate the BMI of different youth age groups gauge the BMI of children and teenagers.

Sources:

http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2015/february/largest-ever-genome-wide-study-on-body-fat-and-bmi-strengthen-genetic-links-to-obesity

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10390261

(genes and obesity/body fat

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