BY Britta Barrett • POSTED March 4 2010 AT 2:26 pm
You’ve heard of BMI. You may know that it stands for body mass index. But what does that even mean? And why does it matter to you?
BMI is a statistical measure comparing one’s weight and height. It looks at the relationship between those two numbers to estimate a healthy body weight. You can calculate your (or your child’s) BMI here.
A healthy BMI is typically in the range of 18.5-24.9. That’s accurate for most people, but not all. As the Mayo Clinic points out, BMI doesn’t consider individual factors such as bone or muscle mass, meaning it may:
- Underestimate body fat for older adults or those with low muscle mass
- Overestimate body fat for people who are very muscular and physically fit
That said, even if your BMI does accurately reflect your health, it can be hard to put a single number into a larger context. One of our recent data visualizations helps illustrate how BMI can correlate to certain health risks.
When you have a comprehensible picture of how common conditions relate to one another, you’re better able to understand your own health.
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Posted March 5 2010 AT 3:11 am