online calculator

I recently did some research for an article that was requested by several readers to my website. The question was, Am I Overweight? This got me thinking about how we determine healthy weight and the tools we use such as the healthy weight chart.

The healthy weight chart is a fairly crude formula that takes into account many general factors relating to the overall body shape of a person.

There are several names for the healthy weight chart, some refer to it as the height weight chart but is essentially the same thing.

Let me explain. These two tools are used as a basis for the calculation of the well known BMI measurement system for measuring Body Mass Index.

If you are not familiar with these charts you may well have seen one pinned to your doctor's wall in his surgery, but this method of calculating healthy body mass is not without its critics.

There is a particular problem with the modern diet that means that many of us now carry excessive and disproportionate amounts of fat around our waistline.

The healthy weight of an individual can vary and the height weight chart is intended to be used as a guideline to determine if a man or woman is in the healthy weight range.

The healthy weight range system was established by collecting data from the population as a whole.

Because the height weight chart is predicated on data from so many people it is usually fairly accurate and gives you an idea of where you fit in a wide band range of healthy weight.

So is the height weight chart a reliable indicator of healthy weight?

Caution, there are cases where the results have been incorrect for example:

We identified a subject (over 6 foot in height) who has now been assessed as being at risk of fatty liver disease, even though his healthy weight range score indicated otherwise. This is an example of the problems with this simple system.

Fatty liver disease is thought to be related to the amount of fat that is carried around the abdomen.

Men with an abdominal circumference of above 40 inches who are over 6 feet tall could be mislead as they may be considered in the overweight but not at risk category according to their BMI using the healthy weight chart.

Conclusion: Instead of relying on a generalised BMI healthy weight system you should pay attention to fat distribution in the abdominal region and also overall body fat percentage as a more accurate and personalised approach to determining healthy weight.