Check Your Body Mass Index Instantly
While BMI doesn't directly measure body fat, it correlates well with more direct measures of body fat for most people. Developed by Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet in the 1830s, BMI has become the global standard for assessing weight categories in adults. Yes, athletes with high muscle mass may have a high BMI without excess fat. BMI is a useful screening tool but doesn’t account for muscle mass or fat distribution. While it doesn’t measure body fat directly, it provides a reliable indicator for most adults. The formula divides your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters (kg/m²).

Weight is referred to as "mass" in medical literature, while height is often called "stature". Of course, in our online BMI calculator you can enter either SI units or imperial metrics for height (feet and inches) as well as weight pounds for weight. In general, BMI is useful when applied to adults, but may be ill-suited when used for young children or even teenagers where the waist to hip ratio and body fat estimates may be more informative.
Consult a healthcare professional for personalised guidance. This calculator is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Calculate your BMI based on height and weight to assess your health status. Slightly higher BMI (up to 27) may be healthier for older adults due to muscle loss. A BMI Calculator is an online tool that estimates your body fat based on your height and weight. Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator is a widely used measurement that helps determine if you are underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese.
If your BMI score is between 30 to 35 then t here is a high chance you have class 1 obesity, with a range between 35 and 40 being Class 2. You should speak to your doctor to find out why you have a low BMI and about how to gain weight healthily. Your BMI is calculated by dividing your weight by your height squared.
The especially noteworthy limitation concerns athletes in whom a high BMI can lead to incorrectly interpreting it as excess body fat. Since optimal BMI may vary between populations, the BMI Prime number is a useful comparison tool as it can be calculated differently for the different populations but result in the same scale. The graph shows the relationship between being overweight or obese according to BMI measures and relative risk of different diseases. As you can see, there is a moderate risk in being underweight, but obesity is certainly a primary risk factor for different sorts of causes for mortality. Individuals are classified in several BMI categories (classes) according to their mortality risk.
Enter height in inches, feet and inches, meters or centimeters. Calculate BMI with weight in pounds, stones or kilograms.