What does your BMI say about your health?

Everybody’s BMI (Body Mass Index) is easily calculated. You only need to take some body measurements and do some simple mathematics. But after calculating it, what does your Body Mass Index really mean? How can you tell the state of your health from your Body Mass Index? Let us take a deep look into that, but first a little refresher.

Finding out your BMI

Here is a little refresher course on how to calculate your BMI. You will need to measure your height and your weight.

BMI = Weight/(Height in inches)squared x 703

After calculating, whatever number you arrive at has it’s significance on a scale. Check where you fall on this number scale:

BMI

Underweight below 18.5
Normal 18.5 – 24.9
Overweight 25.0 – 29.9
Obesity 30.0 and above

Okay, now you can calculate your BMI and you know what the result means. But why is knowing this important? What are the health repercussions of your BMI?

How your BMI is important to your health

You have probably heard that there is an obesity epidemic going on around the world. Many people around the world are becoming obese and this brings with it lots of health problems.

This is where your Body Mass Index is necessary, it helps you to stay on top of things.

Your BMI is basically a measure of your risk of health problems

Having a high BMI shows that you are at a higher risk of developing serious health issues. Including high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, breathing problems, diabetes, the list goes on and on.

There is another important thing to note. Two people with the same BMI can have different health conditions. Other than BMI, you also have to consider family health history and personal health history. In addition to this, the individual’s muscle mass and bone density play important roles too.

For instance, it is possible for you to have more muscle than fat. But your Body Mass Index might show that you are overweight, which isn’t true. But in many cases, your BMI does indicate that you should be mindful of developing health issues

Overview

Your BMI helps you to understand your body and know when you need to be mindful of developing serious health issues. But sometimes, it does not give a full picture of what is going on in your body.

There are other tests that you can take to give you a more complete picture of your health status vis a vis your body. One of these is measuring and comparing your waist and hip measurement.

If the values are close, then it means you are storing fat around your abdomen and organs. This is not good for you, it predisposes you to develop any of the aforementioned health issues.

You can also do a body fat measurement. This test uses calipers to measure body fat. The bottom line is that knowing your Body Mass Index is great to get a general idea of if you are overweight and at risk of developing weight-related health issues. But for a more in-depth result, you can add the other measurements mentioned