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Find out your body mass index (BMI) and compare it with the recommended ranges for your height. Learn about the risks of overweight and obesity, and get tips for weight loss and wellness from RUSH experts.
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- Overview
- A healthy range
- BMI chart
- Issues with BMI
- Waist-to-hip ratio
- Waist-to-height ratio
- Body fat percentage
- Waist and body shape
- The bottom line
A healthy weight can depend on many factors, including your age, sex, muscle mass, bone mass, and lifestyle. Some measures, like body mass index (BMI), do not take all of these measures into account.
There’s no perfect formula to find your ideal body weight. In fact, people are healthy at a variety of weights, shapes, and sizes. What’s best for you may not be best for those around you. Adopting healthy habits and embracing your body will serve you better than any number on the scale.
That said, it’s good to know what’s a healthy body weight range for you. Other measurements like waist circumference may also be helpful in determining health risks. We have a few charts below to help you figure out a healthy body weight for you. But keep in mind, none of these are perfect.
Your body mass index (BMI) is an approximate calculation of your body mass, which is used to predict your amount of body fat based on your height and weight. BMI numbers range from low to high and fall into several categories:
•<19: underweight
•19 to 24: normal
•25 to 29: overweight
•30 to 39: obese
•40 or above: extreme (morbid) obesity
It’s helpful that BMI numbers are standardized and offer ranges of healthy body weights. But it’s only one measure and doesn’t tell the whole story.
For example, BMI doesn’t take into consideration your age, sex, or muscle mass, which are all important when it comes to finding your ideal weight.
Older adults tend to lose muscle and bone, so more of their body weight is likely to come from fat. Younger people and athletes may weigh more due to strong muscles and denser bones. These realities can skew your BMI number and make it less accurate for predicting exact body fat levels.
The same goes for women, who tend to carry more body fat, versus men, who tend to have more muscle mass. So, a man and woman with the same height and weight will get the same BMI number but may not have the same body fat-to-muscle ratio.
More than strictly how much you weigh, body composition and where you store fat can have great impact on your overall health. People who store more body fat around their waist have an increased risk of health problems compared to people who store body fat around their hips. For this reason, it’s helpful to calculate your waist-to-hip (WHR) ratio.
Ideally, your waist should have a smaller circumference than your hips. The greater your WHR is, the higher the risk for related health issues.
A WHR ratio above 0.90 in males and 0.85 in females is considered abdominal obesity, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Once a person reaches this point, they are considered to have a substantially increased risk for associated medical problems.
Some experts believe WHR ratio might be more accurate than BMI for assessing health risks. A 2015 study of more than 15,000 adults found that people with a normal BMI but a high WHR were still more likely to die early. This was especially true for men.
The results mean that a man who has a normal BMI can have excess weight around their waist that drastically increases their risk of health problems.
The study only found correlation between WHR ratios and early death. It didn’t examine exactly why excess abdominal fat could be deadlier. A high WHR ratio might suggest urgent need for diet and lifestyle improvement.
Measuring your waist-to-height ratio is another way to see measure excess fat around the middle.
If your waist measurement is more than half of your height, you may be at increased risk of obesity-related illness such as cardiovascular problems and early death. For example, a 6-foot-tall person would ideally have a waist that’s less than 36 inches with this ratio.
Since the real concern about body weight is actually about unhealthy levels of body fat, it might be best to try calculating your body fat percentage. There are a variety of ways to do this, but the best way is to work with a doctor.
You can use at-home tools to try to determine your body fat percentage, but doctors have more accurate methods. There are also some calculations that use information such as your BMI and your age to find a body fat percentage, but they’re not consistently accurate.
Keep in mind that fat under the skin (referred to as baby fat or a general softness to the body) is not as worrisome. The more troublesome body fat is stored around your organs.
It may cause increased pressure, leading to inflammation in the body. For this reason, waist measurements and body shape may be the simplest and most helpful elements to track.
We don’t know why, but studies show excess belly fat is more dangerous than fat distributed more evenly throughout the body. One theory is that all of the vital organs in your core are affected by the presence of too much belly fat.
Genetics influences where and how people store body fat. While that’s not something we can control, it’s still a good idea to practice healthy eating and exercise as much as possible.
In general, men are more likely to develop body fat around the waist and have higher waist measurements. But as women age and especially after menopause, hormones cause them to start adding more weight around their waist.
For this reason, it may be best to pay attention to how your clothing fits, rather than checking the scale, says Parrella. “Waist measurement is the most important for assessing risk.”
There’s no perfect way to determine your ideal weight, as it depends on many factors. Those factors include not only your body fat percentage and distribution, but also your age and sex.
“Depending on the weight someone is starting at, ‘ideal’ may have many meanings. Five to 10 percent weight loss in a person is medically significant, and can improve health risks,” says Parrella.
Also, things like pregnancy can make your bones and muscles heavier and denser to accommodate for the extra weight. In these cases, a healthy weight for you may be higher than you expect to account for the healthy muscle and bone density that you gained.
If you’re concerned with overall fitness and quality of life, talk with your doctor about starting a diet and exercise program.
- Taylor Norris
The taller the person, the more muscle mass and body fat they have, which results in more weight. A male at a similar height to a female should weigh about 10-20% heavier. Body Frame Size. Body frame size is another factor that can have a significant impact on the measurement of ideal weight.
Sep 4, 2024 · Height Moderate weight BMI 19–24 Overweight BMI 25–29 Obesity BMI 30–39 Severe obesity BMI 40+ 4 ft 10 in (58 in) 91–115 lb: 119–138 lb: 143–186 lb
- Yvette Brazier
Nov 2, 2024 · Doctors say the safe weight loss pace is around 0.25-0.5 kg (0.55-1.1 lb) per week. That means ideally, you should lose no more than 1-2 kg (2.2-4.4 lb) per month. It might sound discouraging. But a slow, steady weight loss pace is the best way to lose weight without stress — and lose it permanently.
Jan 12, 2024 · Wondering how much you should weigh? Explore a variety of charts to determine your ideal weight in relation to your height, age, gender and more.
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Dec 20, 2023 · The CDC notes that a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is a healthy body weight range. That said, it’s important to note that BMI doesn’t take into account many factors that may contribute to healthy ...
