BMI Calculator - Body Mass Index from your weight and height for adults, teens, and children
Calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index) for adults, teens, and children based on your weight and height. You can measure in feet, inches, cm, and kg or lbs.
BMI Result: 21.7

BMI: 21.7
BMI Category: (Healthy)
BMI Percentile:
Healthy BMI Range is 18.5 to 24.9
Healthy weight for your height: 60.2kg (132.72lbs) to 81kg (178.57lbs)
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BMI Calculator
BMI Calculator helps to measure the BMI for ages 2 years and above. The BMI measurement is based on the age, sex, height, and weight of an individual. For children and teens, it will provide BMI category and percentile. For adults, it also suggests a healthy weight range for your height, losing or gaining the amount of weight to have the nearest healthy BMI value.
BMI Categories
The World Health Organization (WHO) categorizes BMI values in the following categories.
BMI for adults aged 20 and above
BMI | Category |
---|---|
Below 18.5 | Under Weight |
18.5-24.9 | Healthy Weight |
25.0-29.9 | Over Weight |
>=30.0 | Obesity |
30.0-34.9 | Obesity class 1 |
35.0 - 39.9 | Obesity class 2 |
Above 40.0 | Obesity class 3 |
BMI for children and teens aged 2 and 19
BMI Range | Category |
---|---|
Less than the 5th percentile | Under Weight |
5th percentile to less than the 85th percentile | Healthy Weight |
85th percentile to less than the 95th percentile | Over Weight |
95th percentile or greater | Obesity |
120% of the 95th percentile or greater OR a BMI of 35 kg/m2 or greater | Severe Obesity |
BMI introduction
Body mass index (BMI), formerly called the Quetelet index, correlates with body fat. BMI is a quick, simple, and inexpensive screening method to measure body fat based on mass and height. BMI is measured with body mass in kg divided by the square of height in meters. For adults aged 20 and above, BMI is categorized as underweight, healthy, overweight, obesity class 1, class 2, and class 3. For children and teens, It is further compared with other children and teens of the same age and sex and categorized into BMI percentiles. The more the BMI value or BMI percentiles the more fat you have. High BMI leads to
- heart disease
- high blood pressure
- high cholesterol
- type 2 diabetes
- Stroke
- Joint problems like arthritis
- Breathing problems like asthma
Low BMI leads
- malnutrition
Thus it is important to have the appropriate amount of fat which functions to protect organs and provides energy storage during illness.
BMI formula
BMI is calculated as follows in the metric units (The International System of Units)
BMI = mass (kg) / height (m)2
BMI is calculated as follows in US units (United States customary units)
BMI = mass (lbs) / height (in)2 x 703
BMI percentiles
BMI percentile compares the individual's BMI from the growth chart with other children or teens of the same age and sex. Based on the chart, it will rank what percent of the reference population the individual lies in. For eg, if an individual BMI is 25th percentile, it means the individual BMI is greater than 25% of the reference population of the same age and sex.
Stage of Accumulation of Fat
Most children have lean mass before reaching puberty. During puberty, boys tend to accumulate large amounts of muscle and bone mass but not fat. On the contrary, girls tend to accumulate large amounts of fat around the thigh as well as the pelvic region. This is reflected in an increased BMI in both sexes. Later with an increase in age, believed to be due to hormonal changes, both sexes tend to grow fat in the upper part of the body around the belly leading to further increase in BMI.
Limitation of BMI
BMI doesn't indicate the actual amount of body fat present in your body. BMI doesn't diagnose your health condition. For muscular people, BMI can be inaccurate too as they have high muscle and low fat in their body. The BMI formula application is the same for males and females but female tends to have more body fat than male. So BMI should not be used for following people.
- Pregnant woman
- Athletes
- Bodybuilders
- Older adults
BMI chart for adults
This graph provides different categories for BMI.

BMI chart for children and teens
This graph provides different percentiles for BMI.

