Understanding the BMI Chart

B y normal standards, a regular athlete or an active member of society can be assumed to be fit and healthy until the BMI chart is brought into the picture. More often than not such men and women have been found to be overweight when the right scales are used. Just because you are lean and appear to be strong is no proof that you are safe. The only way to tell if your weight right is by taking the correct BMI measurements. This should be done on a regular basis to avoid going over or under the recommended measurements since this will affect your health. It is important to know a few facts about the BMI chart. First, you need to know how the value is calculated. The correct BMI figure is found when height and weight are considered. The weight in kilograms is divided by the height in meters to give the BMI figure of an individual. Interpretation of these figures will follow next to establish whether someone has the right weight or if they are under or overweight. If the figure is 30 then one is considered to be obese. A person that gets a figure between 25 to 30 is overweight. Normal BMI should be between 18.5 to 25 while anything below 18.5 is underweight. Even though experts make use of BMI as a measure of obesity, there are counter-arguments that claim that BMI is not effective in measuring obesity in individuals. It claims that it should be used for the entire population instead. However, its simple application makes it appropriate for individual use. In fact, this measure has been used in different cases to reveal interesting results. It is from the BMI studies that females in Britain aged 12 years to 16 years were found to register high levels of BMI ratings. This could be attributed to their feeding habits since which could be contributing to excess weight gain. In the end, the importance of BMI cannot be underrated. It is by knowing that you are obese that you make the necessary adjustments to bring your weight to normal. Obese individuals are at a higher risk of getting life-threatening diseases thus the significance of BMI charts cannot be underestimated. [photo: www.flickr.com]