Body Mass Index (BMI), or Quetelet index, is a statistical measurement which compares a person's weight and height. Though it does not actually measure the percentage of body fat, it is used to estimate a healthy body weight based on how tall a person is. Due to its ease of measurement and calculation, it is the most widely used diagnostic tool to identify weight problems within a population, usually whether individuals are underweight, overweight or obese. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath, Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing "social physics".
Body Mass Index is defined as the individual's body weight divided by the square of his or her height. The formula universally used in medicine produce a unit of measure of kg/m2. BMI can also be determined using a BMI chart, which displays BMI as a function of weight (horizontal axis) and height (vertical axis) using contour lines for different values of BMI or colours for different BMI categories.
BMI Category Range (kg/m2)
Emaciation - less than 14.9
Underweight - from 15 to 18.4
Normal - from 18.5 to 22.9
Overweight - from 23 to 27.5
Obese - from 27.6 to 40
Morbidly Obese - greater than 40
BMI Table , go to : http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/bmi_tbl.pdf
Source :
1. http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index
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