Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measurement of a person’s weight with respect to his or her height. It is more of an indicator than a direct measurement of a person’s total body fat. This means that as the BMI score increases, so does a person’s total body fat.
How to Manage Your BMI in the Healthy reference range of 18.5 to 22.9? Contact Us
BMI is calculated by using a mathematical formula as below:
BMI = (Weight in kilograms) / (Height in metres)2
A normal BMI score is one that falls between 18.5 and 22.9 for Asians, indicating that a person is within the normal weight range for his or her height. A BMI chart categorizes a person as Underweight, Normal, Overweight, or Obese.
What is Clinical Relevance of BMI?
BMI is used by healthcare professionals to screen for overweight and obese individuals and is used to assess a person’s health risks associated with obesity and overweight.
For example, those with a high BMI are at risk of:
- High Blood Cholesterol or other Lipid Disorders
- High Blood Pressure
- Type-2 Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Stroke
- Sleep Apnoea and Snoring
- Osteoarthritis and Joint Disease
- Certain Cancers
BMI, however, is one of the tools that are used to calculate health risk. Other factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol level, blood sugar level, family history of heart disease, age, gender, waist circumference, level of physical activity, menopause status, smoking status, etc. are also taken into consideration while assessing health risk.
Basal Metabolic Rate
Even when resting, our body burns calories by performing basic functions to sustain life, such as:
- breathing
- circulation
- nutrient processing
- cell production
Basal metabolic rate is the number of calories our body needs to accomplish its most basic (basal) life-sustaining functions.
