Many of you must have thought of the question ‘how much should I weigh’ at some point or other. There is no standard ideal weight for every individual as there are various factors like age, muscle fat ratio, frame size, height, sex and body fat distribution that affect the ideal weight of the person. Having excess weight is a root cause of various diseases like obesity, cardiovascular problems, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. But this isn’t the case for all. Extra weight doesn’t mean health issues for everyone. For example, a sports player may weigh more but is fitter compared to others.
There various methods to find out if your weight is ideal in context to your height and sex. Here are few methods to do so:
- Body Mass Index (BMI) – BMI is a popular way to measure health efficiency. It is calculated based on a person’s weight and height ratio. This type of weight measuring technique is used to calculate health efficiency of a large demographic. The standard chart says if a person has a BMI of less than 18.5, it indicates that the person is underweight. Whereas a BMI if between 18.5 to 24.9 is ideal. A BMI of between 25 to 29.9 indicates overweight and above that indicates obese. You can easily calculate your BMI by simply putting your weight and height in an online BMI calculator. Calculating BMI in children is a bit complex as it keeps changing pertaining to their growth.
- Waist to hip ratio (WHR) – In this weight measuring technique, a person’s waist size is compared to that of his/her hips. Research suggests that people having excess weight around their middle are more prone to have cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. It means people having higher waist measurement compared to the hip are at greater risk. Remember, the WHR differs for men from females pertaining to the difference in body types.
- Waist to height ratio – This is another technique that can assess the health efficiency and its risk to heart disease, diabetes and overall mortality. This technique is more effective than BMI. As per this technique, an individual having waist measurement lesser than half their height is at a lower risk. To calculate waist to height ratio, you need to divide the waist size by height and if the result is 0.5 or less than that, then it indicates a healthy weight. This ratio is very vital in predicting heart and kidney diseases as the root cause of these diseases is mainly the fat accumulation around the middle part of the body.
- Body fat percentage – Body fat percentage calculates the ratio of body fat divided by total weight. Body fat in specific percentage is necessary. Although, exceeding that percentage can make your health prone to various diseases. Men need to have body fat between 2 to 4 percentage of their body composition to be considered as healthy. Whereas for women, it is 10 to 14 percent. Apart from sex, the ideal fat percentage also depends on the body type and activity level of the person.
While there are many online calculators like BMI calculator to find out the health efficiency, you must consult with your doctor to find it through the right technique depending on your body type and other factors.
