How can you check whether your weight falls into a healthy category? How can you find out whether you are overweight or obese? And what is a healthy weight for my height?
For decades, we have used tools like our Body Mass Index (BMI) and our waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio measurements to determine how our weight (and where we carry our weight) may affect our health. While the science around weight and health-risk is definitely moving more towards looking at specific health behaviours to determine the risk to our health (rather than just looking at a number or category), for some people learning more about the numbers can be a motivator to improve aspects of our diet and lifestyle.
In today’s post, you will learn how we define overweight or obesity using 2 common methods: BMI and waist circumference. I will give you a BMI calculator to calculate your own BMI. And we will learn how to check your own waist circumference.
1. Body Mass Index (BMI)
What is my BMI, otherwise known as Body Mass Index?
Your BMI is probably the most commonly used way to help you identify what weight category you fall in. BMI is a useful measure to identify overweight or obesity for the majority of people.
What do I need to measure my BMI?
To measure your BMI, you will need to measure your weight (in kilograms) and your height (in meters).
How do I measure my weight and height?
Weight:
Check your weight in the morning, when you have an empty stomach and an empty bladder. Stand with your bare feet on the scales, and take your weight in kilos (kg).
Height:
Stand against the wall in your bare feet and look straight ahead with your feet close together. Make sure your heels touch the wall. Have a friend hold a ruled onto your head and against the wall and make a small light pencil mark. Use a tape measure to measure your height from the floor to the mark (use meters).
How do I calculate my BMI?
To calculate your BMI, you can use an equation, a BMI calculator or a BMI chart.
BMI equation:
Use a calculator to make the following calculation: Weight (in kg) ÷ Height (in meters) ÷ Height (in meters). This is your BMI.
BMI Calculator:
BMI Chart:
Find where your height and your weight rows and columns meet and read what your BMI is.
How do we categorise our BMI (1) ?
See what category your BMI falls into.
Underweight BMI is:
Less than or equal to 18.5.
Healthy Weight BMI is:
Between 18.5 and 25.
Overweight BMI is:
between 25 and 30.
Obese BMI is:
More than 30.
How can I calculate what my healthy weight is?
Use the below calculator to find out your weight range that will meet the “healthy” BMI category for your height. Put in your height and find your healthy weight range.
2. Waist Circumference and Waist to Hip Ratio
What is my waist circumference?
A waist circumference is the measurement all the way around your waist. Carrying excess fat around our waist may put you at increased risk of many obesity-related diseases such as heart disease and cancer. By measuring our waist circumference along with our BMI, we can get a better picture of our overall weight status.
What is my hip circumference?
This is a measure around the largest part of our hip. While we do not usually compare our hip circumference to a chart, we can use this number to calculate a Waist to Hip Ratio, which is a way to see where we carry our weight.
How do we measure our waist and hip circumference?
Grab a measuring tape, and measure your waist (often located just above your belly button). Measure your hips around the largest or widest part of your hip. See the picture below to learn more on how to accurately measure your waist and hip circumference.
How do we categorise our waist circumference (2)?
See what category your waist circumference falls into:
Waist Circumference for men:
Healthy:
Less than 94cm
At risk:
More than 94cm.
Waist Circumference for Women:
Healthy:
Less than 80cm
At risk:
More than 80cm.
How do we calculate our waist to hip ratio?
To calculate your waist:hip ratio, you simply divide your waist circumference by your hip circumference. Make sure that they are in the same units before you do this calculation (i.e. both in cm, or both in inches)!
How do we categorise our waist to hip ratio (2)?
See what category your waist to hip ratio falls into:
Waist to Hip ratio for men:
Healthy:
Less than 0.90
At risk:
More than 0.90
Waist to Hip Ratio for Women:
Healthy:
Less than 0.85
At risk:
More than 0.85
Now that we have measured ourselves up to international guidelines that are used to define overweight and obesity, where do we stand?
Do your measurements show that you fall into a healthy weight category?
Try to maintain your weight through ongoing healthy diet and exercise, and keep a regular eye on your number on the scales. I myself keep a little note on my phone of my weight month to month. It helps me track any changes in my weight over time and helps me recognise moments of “excess” before they cause too much damage.
Does your BMI and waist circumference fell into an “at risk” category?
Be assured that awareness is a big step towards change! I have several videos and articles on health and lifestyle methods that may be useful! And check out my top 10 tips for a healthier lifestyle here. For example, I have an article that helps us to know where to start on this journey. Follow this link the fact-sheet section of the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute website for a wealth of information on how to build healthy habits for weight loss.
Make sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel, where I share videos every two weeks on healthy eating, healthy guts and healthy lifestyles! If you hit that little bell button on my channel page, you will get notified when my next video comes out. I hope to catch you on my facebook, instagram, twitter and pinterest pages, where I’ll keep the conversation going until my next post!
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