What is the Body Mass Index (BMI)?

In today's health-conscious world, there are a number of new tools and processes that have been developed to help people gauge how healthy they are.  One such tool--a measurement tool--is the body mass index (BMI).

Body mass index is a tool that helps people judge how healthy their weight is.  To do so, it takes into account both people's weight and their height, and it puts them into a formula to see whether people's weights are appropriate for their heights.  The formula that is used to calculate body mass index is straightforward: an individual's weight in kilograms is divided by the square of an individual's height in meters.  For example, if someone weight 60 kilograms and is 4 meters tall, an individual's body mass index is 60/(4*4) = 60/16 = 3.75.  (Note: This was just an example; no one can have a BMI of 3.75).

In general, there are six categoties for body mass index.  They are:

• starvation: if the body mass index is less than 15
• underweight: if the body mass index is from 15 to less than 18.5
• normal: if the body mass index is from 18.5 to less than 23
• overweight: if the body mass index is from 23 to less than 27.5
• obese: if the body mass index is from 27.5 to 40
• morbidly obese: if the body mass index is greater than 40

While body mass index is used quite widely, it does have shortcomings.  One of those is that it ignores the distrution of weight.  Another criticism has been the fact that the height is squared.

Ultimately, however the purpose of body mass index is to help decide whether or not they are healthy.  No matter how healthy people are, however, medical emergencies can arise without any warning.  In such situations, having health insurance helps immensely.  For more information on Texas health insurance policies and plans, contact Option 1 Health Insurance today.

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