How High Is Your BMI?

— -- Are you the right weight for your height? A scale can’t tell you what your body mass index can.

Health experts see often suggest using one’s body mass index, a way to measure body weight in relation to height, as an accurate way to determine when extra pounds begin to hold health risks. Your body mass index is closely linked to your body fat. Many doctors agree with the current BMI guidelines which state that anyone with a body mass index of 25 should be considered overweight.

Anyone with a body mass index of 30 — such as 5-foot-6, 186 pounds, or 6-foot, 221 pounds is considered obese by many health professionals who stand behind these calculations.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has concluded that these calculations are generally good to follow since health risks can begin with a body mass index as low as 25. As BMI’s go up, blood pressure and total cholesterol levels also rise, increasing the risk of problems such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. In addition to measuring body mass index it’s often recommended that doctors measure a patient’s waistline, which is closely associated with the amount of abdominal fat and another predictor of disease risk.

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A waist measurement of more than 40 inches in men and more than 35 inches in women could indicate an increased health risk in people who have a body mass index of between 25 to 34.9.

People of healthy weight should have their body mass index checked every two years. However, the BMI shouldn’t be the only way you test your own weight. It does not, for example, take into consideration the differences in weight between lean muscle mass and body fat. Someone can have a high BMI, but his or her fat percentage could be low. Large body builders might fail the BMI when they are in excellent health and have a very low percentage of body fat.

Conversely, someone who looks skinny and has a so-called “healthy BMI” but a high fat percentage, might actually be at risk for disease and could be unaware he or she faces an increased risk.