How Accurate Is a BMI Calculator?

We’ve all heard of the BMI calculator, and when most of us hear those two words it usually fills us with a teeny bit of dread. So how do they work? What do they calculate and how do they calculate it?

And most importantly what do you do with this information?

BMI stands for body mass index, so it calculates the mass percentage of your body which is basically superfluous. It calculates how much body fat you have in comparison to.

It’s not just a case of the lower the better however, a truly healthy BMI is around 27/100, and it’s also used to calculate if people are underweight as well as over.

So how does it work? Basically it takes your weight and height, gender and age into account gives you a number. This number then matches up to a scale of how underweight or overweight you actually are.

The formula for calculating your BMI is pretty much standard, you merely ass something on the end of the formula depending on which unit you use.

Basically you divide your mass in KG by your height in meters squared. The image you can see below pretty much explains it all for you:

So once you’ve used ” bmi calculator, or done it manually what next? Firstly you need to align yourself on a scale of how healthy your BMI is. Basically:’

18.5-24.9 = Healthy weight

This is your target range although you may still want to lose a few pounds to reach a comfortable weight for you

25.0-29.9 = Overweight

Losing weight will help you to avoid any future weight related complications

30+ = Obese

You are at considerable risk of developing weight related problems such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure etc.

The ideal weight for someone to be also fluctuates depending on height and gender, so this is all taken into account when you calculate your BMI.

For example, if you’re a 6’6 male, then your ideal weight is going to be much heavier than that of a 5’1 lady!

A BMI isn’t supposed to be 100% accurate, and it doesn’t take things into account like bone density, breast size, brain weight or general build, but it’s still a good indicator of how healthy you are.

Once you have this information you can see on a scale (excuse the pun) how much weight you need to lose or put on to be in the sweet spot!

It’s also a great tool to track your weight loss because you can see yourself moving around on the scale, so you can see when your efforts are working.

I’d really recommend trying one out, just to see where you are. They’re also really good if you think you might be a little underweight or overweight, so you can have medical proof that maybe you aren’t.

I recently proved to my teenage daughter that she was a perfectly healthy size using one, and it actually worked!