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Body Mass Index

Hey guys! Welcome to Healthy Living! Here, we talk about body health, fitness and the mental wellness of the human body, and we do it with so much fun you cannot even believe.
My name is OMATONIA and I am a community health extension worker.

I have loads of healthy info to give you here on nnoko.org. It’s a pleasure launching with this amazing article!

As you must’ve read above, the title of this short article is Body Mass Index. It’s a topic you want to read, trust me. When you go through this, you’re gonna wanna start living healthy as I’ll be breaking down the intricacies of this topic.
We’ll start off at the beginning with a short definition of Body Mass Index. You don’t really have to memorize the meaning, but it’s good you know it. It is simply a method used in monitoring the nutritional status of an adult. See, simple!
It is the mathematical ratio of height to weight. It is used to describe generalized body fatness, especially in adults. It helps to identify people who are at great risk of developing non-communicable diseases. (NCD) like obesity, high blood pressure and some heart diseases. It is calculated by dividing weight (in kg) by height (in m2). Guys, don’t fret. I’ll be breaking it down now.

B. M. I = weight (kg)
——————-
height (m*2), that is (m*m)

For example – calculate the body mass index of Mr. Amadi whose weight is 75kg and the height 1.75m.

B. M. I = 75kg
——–
1.75m*2 = 1.75 * 1.75

B. M. I = 75kg
——–
3.0625m

= 24.489 approximately 24.5kg/m2.
See! It’s very easy to calculate! You can even try it at home with your bathroom weighing scale and a measuring tape. Use the side that has centimeters and then divide by 100 to convert it to meters as 100 centimeters make one meter. Let’s say, for example, I have had my height measured and it’s 150 centimeters. Well, 150 divided by 100 is 1.5, so I am 1.5m in height. Simple. You weigh yourself then proceed with the simple formula above — all in a matter of few minutes!
Fun, right?
Now, I have charted below a table showing standards of B.M.I in relation to your nutritional status, that is if you are underweight, have normal weight, are pre-obese, have obesity either in class 1, class 2 or class 3. These standards have been measured according to the World Health Organization so it’s pretty accurate! In fact, it is concise.

B. M. I (kg/m2) Nutritional status
Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5 – 24.9 Normal weight
25.0 – 29.9 Pre obesity
30.0 – 34.9 Obesity class 1
35.0 39.9 Obesity class 2
Above 40 Obesity class 3

According to WHO, some conditions related to overweight and obesity include: premature death, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, some cancers, and diabetes. Hey now, I’m not preaching doom to you. If you are pre-obese, you can work your way back to normal weight, and if you are obese, you can as well work your way to normal weight.

Now, here’s a fun fact. Do you know that not all fat people are obese? Shocked? Well, weight has got many factors here, muscle mass inclusive. That’s why some bodybuilders end up having heart diseases. There’s a limit to everything. Andreas Münzer (October 25, 1964 – March 14, 1996) was an Austrian professional bodybuilder known for his extremely low body fat levels and early death (he died at 31). He was even featured in Flex twice and Muscle Magazine International once. His autopsy report revealed that he had almost zero percent body fat! Shocking, right.

Well, the body requires fat for numerous activities such as cellular function, energy use and to nicely pad joints and organs. Men need 3% of body fat and women 12% for the body to perform properly. If it falls below or above this, there could be a problem.
Now, if you’re overweight and are planning to reduce your body fat, there’s no shortcut to this except highway options such as surgery – liposuction.

Exercise, eating healthy and taking certain healthy vegetable or fruit smoothies can help you on your journey to normal weight. If you are hoping to gain weight for those underweight, eating healthy foods and healthy smoothies can also help and lots of rest. If you are a bodybuilder and your B.M.I is very high, try staying away from red meat, artificial steroids and try lifting bars only on select days, not every day. Eat healthy foods and lean towards other forms of exercise, all for your health. If you build all the muscles in the world and end up beautifying a coffin with it, it’s all vanity.

That all said, eat healthy foods. Cut down on your carbs. Give proteins, vegetables, and fruits another try and be alive to read one more article from me. Lots of warm love from over here! Also, know you B.M.I today! It’s important. Feel free to drop your comments below as I’d be very much happy to interact with you.

Remember to relate with your doctor or health care provider if you notice any changes in your body system.

Till Next Week!

Published inHealth And You

2 Comments

  1. Excel Paul Excel Paul

    Wonderful

  2. Nnaji chinenyenwa Nnaji chinenyenwa

    Thank you so much for the lecture

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