Optimum Body Weight

Health and Wellness » Weight Management » Optimum Body Weight

You must know your optimum body weight to have good health. Improper weight management can create many health issues and also disturb your lifestyle. There are many ways to control your weight. Following proper diet and having regular physical activities contribute to great weight control. If you don’t know the exact body weight, then there are many ways to calculate your body weight.

Risk Involved in Being Overweight

  • Heart disease
  • Chances of strokes
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Sleep apnea
  • Breathing problems
  • Gallstones problem
  • High blood pressure
  • Increase in cholesterol level
  • Joints problem
  • Feeling tired

Ways to Know Optimum Body Weight

You can know your ideal body weight with the help of BMI calculator. All you have to do is enter your height and weight in the calculator and you get the results within seconds.

According to the calculator, people with BMI more than or equal to 39 are said to be obese and people with BMI 25-29.9 are said to be overweight. Obese and overweight people have more chances of having health issues. Even small changes in weight can bring great changes in your health and lessen the chances of risk of having diseases related with obesity. Your BMI considers your weight in accordance to your height.

BMI Metric Units: Your weight (kg) divided by the square of your height (m). Suppose weight 80 kilograms. Height 1.8 meters. 1.82 meters = 3.24 80 divided by 3.24 = BMI 24.69.

Imperial Units: Your weight (pounds) times 703, should be divided by the square of your height in inches. Weight 190 pounds. Height 6 ft (72 inches) 722 = 5184 190 x 703 divided by 5184 = BMI 25.76

According to health care experts,

  • People with a BMI over 30 are obese
  • Somebody with a BMI between 25 and 30 is said to be overweight
  • A BMI ranging between 18.5 and 25 is perfect
  • People with less than 18.5 BMI are underweight

Waist-Hip ratio (WHR)

In this method, the ratio of your waist circumference to that of your hips is calculated. You have to consider the smallest waist circumference which is above your belly button and divide it with total hip circumference at its widest part. For women, if the waist is 28 inches and hips 36 inches, their WHR will be 28 divided by 35=0.77.

Male WHR

  • 1 or over - high risk of cardiovascular problems
  • 0.9 to 0.99 - moderate risk of cardiovascular health problems
  • Less than 0.9 - low risk of cardiovascular health problems

Female WHR

  • 0.9 or over - high risk of cardiovascular problems
  • 0.8 to 0.89 - moderate risk of cardiovascular health problems
  • Less than 0.8 - low risk of cardiovascular health problems

Body Fat Percentage

You can also know your weight by calculating body fat percentage. It is calculated by your fat weight divided by your total weight. The results which you get are essential fat and unnecessary fat.

  1. Essential Fat: At this amount of fat, we can survive. It is said that women must have more amount of fat as compared to man. Essential fat is 2%-5% in men and 10%-13% in women.
  2. Storage Fat: This is unnecessary fat which gets accumulated in adipose tissues; some part of this fat protects internal organs in the chest and abdomen.
  3. Total Body Fat Percentage: It is the total of necessary fat and storage fat.

Essential Fat

  • For women: 10-12%
  • For men: 2-4%

Once you know your optimum body weight and find out that you are more or less than the body weight you need, then talk to your doctor. You doctor will again confirm your weigh and accordingly advice you about the steps for bringing your weight to normal.