Body mass index, aka BMI, is a calculation that can be used in order to determine whether or not an individual is within an ideal weight range. The concept was introduced in the 1830’s by a Belgian statistician named Adolphe Quetelet. Initially, it was known as the Quetelet Index, and it really wasn’t used that much in those early days since obesity wasn’t as widespread then as it is now. These days, however, an increasing number of people are becoming overweight, and everybody wants to learn his or her body mass index!

There are BMI calculators online. If you want to learn your BMI, all you have to do is enter your height, weight, and age. If you’re under twenty, you may want to look at a special graph for children and teens, as it can provide you with better insight than an adult body mass index table. An ideal BMI ratio for an adult should be between 19 and 24.9.

For a kid or teen, it should be between the 6% and 85% percentiles on the graph. It’s a bit more complicated to determine an adolescent’s BMI, as the age and gender need to be taken into consideration. There are graphs available online for adolescent boys and girls that can be used to compare body mass index in the form of percentiles. Anything over 85% is overweight.

As for adults, a BMI below 19 is considered to be underweight, and anything over 30 is obese. Here is a chart for measuring adult BMI:

• <19 – underweight
• 19-24.9 - normal
• 25 – 29.9 – overweight
• 30 – 39.9 – obese
• 40+ - extremely (dangerously) obese

Keep in mind that men can get away with having a slightly higher BMI than a woman of similar height and weight. Also, you need to realize that, although fairly reliable, this method of evaluating weight range does have its limitations. The most obvious reason for this is due to the fact that it doesn’t differentiate between muscle and fat weight. Thus, athletes with above-average muscle mass might have a high BMI despite the fact they are not fat.

There are other indicators that you can take into consideration when assessing whether or not you’re overweight. These include: dietary habits, exercise regimes, medical conditions such as diabetes and thyroid problems, genetics, and so forth. Also, you should always visit a doctor regularly if you are concerned about your weight. If you are worried about being obese, then you may also want to visit a dietician.

If you want to lower your BMI, you need to cut down on the junk food and eat more healthy food. Drink a lot more water, also. Eating five, small healthy meals a day instead of three large ones is a wise idea. Try lowering your calories a bit every day. You also need to work out and do some cardio. Doing cardio is the best way to burn excess fat and calories that are stored in your body. Whatever you do, though, don’t starve yourself, or you’ll just make things worse in the long run.