Weight Chart and the BMI (body mass index)
Carolyn Classick-Kohn,MS,RD

What should I weigh?  Is my weight a good weight or am I at increased risk for disease? In the past, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company tables have been used to define desirable weight, that is: a weight associated with the lowest mortality rate for a given age and weight. The problem is it doesn't account for body fat and muscle mass, which can vary greatly from one person to the next.  
 

Another Term:  Body Mass Index
No longer does a simple excess of weight as defined by height/weight tables suffice to define obesity because an excess of weight does not necessarily  reflect the degree of excess of fat. For example, because muscle mass weighs more than fat tissue, some very muscular athletes may weigh more than non-athletes of the same age and height and appear obese on the scale, while they really are not, because their fat mass is small.

A more accurate reflection of body fat is given by the Body Mass Index.  The BMI can be calculated easily from the following formula:   BMI =(Weight in kg /Height in meters²)

A Desirable Body Weight and BMI
These calculations can provide a very good estimate of whether a person's excess fat puts them at risk for their health. 

An "Overweight " body corresponds to a BMI that is:  
25.0 - 29.9 AND "Obesity" corresponds to a BMI of:  30 or more

Both of these measurements (above) of BMI are associated with greater health risk.  If you have a BMI below 25.0, BMI is not associated closely enough to actual body fat to tell if an individual is at an optimum body weight or not. To determine what a desirable weight for you would be, consider your percentage of body fat (get it measured), consider what weight makes you feel and look your best, and discuss with your health care professional.  

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