Body mass index
Obesity, as you understand, is characterized by excessive accumulation of fat.
Body mass index or BMI is a wonderful tool to find whether one's weight is in
the normal range or not. This is expressed by a simple formula as weight in the
kilogram divided by height in meter square.
BMI=Weight in kg / (height in meters)2
Body mass index perfectly establishes the relationship between the body weight
and height.
According to the international obesity task force (IOTF), and National
Institute of Health (NIH) agencies, body weight is classified as:
* Underweight if BMI is less than 18.5.
* The healthy range for the BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.
* Overweight when BMI is between 25 and 29.9.
* Class I obesity is between 30 and 34.9.
* Class II obesity is between 35 and 39.9.
* Class III or extreme obesity is when BMI is more than 40.
Salient features of Body mass index
* Higher body mass index correlates with morbidity and diseases like
obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and impaired blood lipid profiles.
Individuals with high BMI are thus prone for heart attack, stroke, cancer,
chronic backache, chest infections, sleep disturbances (obstructive sleep
apnea), and arthritis of knee and hip joints.
* Periodic calculation of BMI helps us identify the factors of excess
body weight and thereby help set the goals for weight reduction.
* BMI is generally applicable in persons less than 74 years. After age
75, there is no longer an association between increased BMI and diseases or
death.
* BMI calculation may not be applicable for athletes who have large
amounts of lean muscle mass.
* In addition to BMI values, fitness and physical activities are also
important components of healthy status. For example, physically active
otherwise slightly overweight persons have less risk of diseases than an
inactive, unfit, lean person who does have BMI of less than 24.9.
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