

We'll try to characterize how often BMI disagrees with other measures (such as body fat percentage) in a future post. For example, your author has a BMI of 25.9 and isn't worried about his classification. In short: people vary in their dieting and exercise habits. While there are huge individual variations in body composition, it's easier to generalize compositions for a large population. Is BMI a Useful Health Indicator?īMI, while useful for many individuals (and the start of a health conversation), is very useful for population summaries like this one.

BMI misclassifications include athletes incorrectly classified as overweight as well as individuals with low muscle mass classified as underweight or healthy weight. Of important note: BMI ignores body composition. Even though there are guidelines presented by government agencies, it's only an equation based on weight and total mass. Remember, BMI is not a measure of body fat, nor is it strictly a measure of "Health".
Bmi calculator usa professional#
Always consult a professional on medical topics.īMI ranges can be incorrect, especially for athletes. BMI is an element of the communication between you and a professional such as a doctor, nutritionist, or trainer. The BMI calculator uses either your weight in. Using these breakdowns, here's the breakdown of the number of American adults in each category: American Adults by BMI Categoryįirst: nothing on this site – including calculated BMI and category – is medical advice!īMI comes from a simple equation feeding a complex topic. And then this formula was then modified in 1972 by USA mathematician Broca and BMI calculator has been used since. The CDC categorizes BMI in one of four ways for adults: Non-Healthy and Healthy BMIs in the United States Here are the BMI breakpoints for selected percentiles: US Adult BMI Percentile The United States adult median BMI was 28.2. In 2016, the United States adult average BMI was 29.3. Median and Average BMI in the United States Heights and weights were measured at a mobile examination center. BMI Percentile Calculator for the United Statesĭata comes from 5,662 adults with valid BMIs in the 2015-16 NHANES survey from the CDC. To calculate body mass index for you or someone else, use our BMI Calculator. On this page is a BMI percentile calculator for adults 18 and older in the United States.īMI is a formula based on height and weight which estimates whether a person is in a healthy range.
