Per the CDC, there are a few differences among certain demographics when it comes to body fat, including: Muscle mass, on the other hand, is beneficial and can play a role in protecting your bones, processing food, and warding off chronic disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. “It’s important to keep in mind that BMI does not distinguish between muscle and fat mass, and the cutoff points can’t adequately distinguish health risk between those who are biologically male or female or between different races,” says Linda Anegawa, MD, a double board-certified physician in internal medicine and obesity medicine and chief of medicine with Noom, a digital health platform, who is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.įat mass is more problematic, as having too much body fat qualifies as obesity, which can increase the risk of other health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure, according to Mayo Clinic. The fact that BMI is universal can be problematic. Among adults, BMI is interpreted the same way for both men and women, says Michelle Jaelin, RD, a blogger at, who is based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The BMI formula is universal - it’s the same for both adults and children (though the numbers are interpreted differently for young people because birth sex and age are factored in), as the CDC notes. Sometimes, though, it delivers an oversimplified picture of your health (more on that later).Īccording to this measure, more than 40 percent of American adults are considered obese, according to the CDC. Here are the BMI ranges for underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese:īMI has long been a popular tool to track overweight and obesity rates at a population level, in part because it’s easy to use and doesn’t require any fancy equipment to calculate.

It’s a tool used to define overweight and obesity, and it's calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by his or her height in square meters, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes.ĭon’t be intimidated by the number crunching - there are loads of online calculators that will generate your BMI when you put in your stats, including from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. BMI stands for body mass index, but you'll almost always find it referred to simply as BMI.

Bmi calculator for women elderly