How Important is the Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculation?
BMI calculation is used by doctors around the world to determine the level of body fat in an individual’s body. It helps practitioners determine the overall fitness levels as well as the potential risks of developing chronic ailments.
How is BMI Calculated?
A BMI calculator will divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches squared. The result is then multiplied by 703. People with a healthy weight will have a BMI that falls between 18.
5 and 24.9. Anything under this suggests that you are underweight, and anyone over this range is categorized as an overweight individual. People with a BMI over 30 are considered to be obese.
Why is BMI Important?
If your BMI is lower than the normal range, then it is an indication of malnourishment. It also implies that your body is not able to absorb the nutrients properly or isn’t getting enough calories. On the other end, a higher BMI level means that you may be at risk of a heart disease, certain kinds of cancers, or diabetes. In fact, medical insurance companies also rely on this figure and consider it as one of the many factors dete
rmining your premium. With weight being a critical factor behind a number of ailments such as types of heart diseases, liver diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and even hormonal imbalances in both, men and women, BMI as an index is a critical indicator that allows practitioners to take the correct measures in the long run.
Is BMI a Perfect Indicator of Obesity?
Over the years, BMI has grown to become a generally accepted form of measurement and comparison of height and weight. That said, this calculation does not take into account gender and the fact that women have more fat than men while men have more muscles, body types, bone proportions, pregnancies and other factors that can also affect your weight. This means, that while BMI is not a standalone perfect indicator of weight problems in an individual, it is definitely a decent indicator for the way forward. This is why, although health insurance companies use BMI as a way to identify if you are obese, they do not solely rely on it to determine how healthy or unhealthy you are.
