Obesity what is bmi

Please upgrade to web browser that supports iframes to see this CDC widget. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Healthy Weight, Nutrition, and Physical Activity. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Adult BMI Calculator. Minus Related Pages. Height: Feet. Weight: Pounds.

For the information you entered: Height: Weight: Your BMI is , indicating your weight is in the category for adults of your height. How is BMI used? Why is BMI used to measure overweight and obesity? Athletes are commonly misclassified, as are those who are particularly short or tall. In brief BMI, is most useful on a population not on an individual basis. Other methods include measurement of waist circumference, waist to hip ratio and biometric impedance. Waist circumference WC is a cheap and easy method of measurement.

Waist circumference is considered a reasonable indicator of intra-abdominal or visceral fat. This fat is closely associated with increased risk of comorbidity.

These are shown below. Populations differ in the level of risk as fat is distributed differently in different populations. The importance of central obesity is clear in populations e. As a consequence of these different distributions of body fat an alternative set of criteria were devised.

Email Address. What's this? Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. Related Topics. Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website. Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.

You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. CDC is not responsible for Section compliance accessibility on other federal or private website. If it's been a long time since you did any exercise, you should check out the Couch to 5K running plan. It consists of podcasts delivered over the course of 9 weeks and has been specifically designed for absolute beginners. To begin with, you start running for short periods of time, and as the plan progresses, gradually increase the amount.

At the end of the 9 weeks, you should be able to run for 30 minutes non-stop, which for most people is around 5 kilometres 3. Page last reviewed: 16 May Next review due: 16 May How to tell if you're obese The most widely used method to check if you're a healthy weight is body mass index BMI. For most adults, a BMI of: Risks of obesity It's very important to take steps to tackle obesity because, as well as causing obvious physical changes, it can lead to a number of serious and potentially life-threatening conditions.

These include: type 2 diabetes coronary heart disease some types of cancer, such as breast cancer and bowel cancer stroke Obesity can also affect your quality of life and lead to psychological problems, such as depression and low self-esteem.

Causes of obesity Obesity is generally caused by consuming more calories, particularly those in fatty and sugary foods, than you burn off through physical activity. Find out why sitting too much is bad for your health There are also some underlying health conditions that can occasionally contribute to weight gain, such as an underactive thyroid gland hypothyroidism , although these types of conditions do not usually cause weight problems if they're effectively controlled with medicines.

Treating obesity The best way to treat obesity is to eat a healthy reduced-calorie diet and exercise regularly.