Healthy Outlook Blog

Deconstructing the Jargon: BMI

By Britta Barrett | Posted March 4 2010

BMI, health

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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