CALCULATING THE BODY MASS INDEX
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Instructions to calculate

The calculation form must be completed correctly. The weight must be entered in kilos, to the nearest integer to its actual weight. For example, if your weight is 70.9 kilos, you would enter 71 in the appropriate box. Likewise, if you weighed 61.2 kg, you would enter the value 61, which is the most nearest integer.

Enter your weight in kilos here

Type here your height in centimeters


Significance and limitations of BMI

Overall, BMI reflects quite closely the nutritional status and correlates acceptably with risk for suffering or worsen various related to overweight and obesity diseases, although there are exceptions that should be noted:

First: Children, where BMI values should be performed necessarily comparing the figure obtained with reference graph, since BMI at these ages is usually much lower than in adults.

Second: Several studies have shown that, for the same BMI, the population of oriental origin have a higher proportion of fat on their body that people of Caucasian origin. Some experts have suggested that in people of Asian origin could be considered that there is overweight when the BMI is greater than 23 and obese when BMI is greater than 25.

While the Caucasian population has the lowest mortality rates when BMI is between 24.3 to 24.7, the African population has the lowest mortality rate when BMI is between 26.8 and 27.1, so, unlike the Asians, should be noted that these persons are overweight when BMI reaches or exceeds 28.