Body Mass Index (BMI)
Understanding your BMI
If you are not physically active and do not have healthy eating habits, it not only affects your weight, but also your overall health.
If you and a friend both weigh the same, this doesn’t mean you necessarily have the same risk for heart attack. It all depends on the proportion of your weight to your height. As we grow older, we do not grow taller, but tend to grow wider if we don’t manage our weight.
This proportion is called your BMI. BMI is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared. The resulting number helps provide a little bit of a perspective on how much body fat you have. In today’s society, it’s common to see people with a heavier weight who also have excess fat in their body.*
*BMI does not take into consideration if the weight is comprised of mostly fat or muscle, so may not be an accurate predictor of risk in individuals who have a high amount of muscle.
See the BMI chart below to calculate your BMI. What the numbers mean:
