BMI is an acronym for Body Mass Index, which is a calculation used to assess whether a person is at their ideal weight relative to their height. Thus, depending on the value of the BMI result, the person may know if it is at the ideal weight, above or below the desired weight.
Having the right weight is important because a weight greater or less than this weight can greatly influence your health, increasing the risk of diseases such as malnutrition when you are underweight, and a stroke or heart attack when you are overweight. For example, it’s common for doctors, nurses, and nutritionists to evaluate a person’s BMI during routine appointments to detect diseases that the person may be predisposed to.
- The calculation of BMI must be performed using the following mathematical formula: Weight – (height x height).
- But you can also know if you’re at your ideal weight using our online calculator.
- Just by entering your data:.
This formula is ideal for calculating the weight of healthy adults. In addition, waist/hip ratio calculation can also be used to assess the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as diabetes and heart attack. See how to calculate here.
Each BMI result should be evaluated by a healthcare professional. However, the following table shows the possible outcomes of BMI, according to the World Health Organization, with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 representing the ideal weight and the lowest risk of certain diseases.
Anyone who doesn’t have the ideal weight should adjust their diet and exercise to achieve the most suitable weight for their height and age.
When you have the ideal weight, you should increase your intake of nutrient-rich foods so that your body has what it takes to protect against disease. Overweight people should consume fewer calories and exercise to eliminate fat reserves, which increases the risk of heart disease.
When the BMI result is not ideal, certain precautions, especially with food, can help achieve the ideal value:
If the result of BMI is higher than ideal and the person is not very muscular or athletic, this may indicate that weight loss is necessary, eliminating fat accumulation, which contributes to a high weight. To do this, you only have to eat foods rich in vitamins and minerals, taking care to reduce the consumption of industrialized and high-fat foods, such as puff pastry, cakes, stuffed biscuits and snacks, for example.
For even faster results, it is advisable to exercise to increase caloric expenditure and increase metabolism. Using natural teas and supplements can be a stimulant to help you lose weight faster and healthier, without having to be hungry. Examples include hibiscus tea or cinnamon and ginger tea, but a nutritionist may recommend others that are better suited to each person’s needs.
Learn more about healthy food rehabilitation to lose weight
If the result of BMI is not ideal, what needs to be done is to increase the consumption of foods rich in good vitamins and minerals, but without making the mistake of eating processed foods high in trans fats. Pizzas, fried, sausages and burgers are not the best foods for those who need to increase their weight in a healthy way, as this type of fat can build up inside the arteries, increasing the risk of heart disease.
Discover 6 tips for gaining weight and gaining muscle mass in a healthy way.
Although BMI is widely used to check whether the individual is overweight or not, this method has some defects and therefore it is recommended to use it in addition to other diagnostic means to check whether the individual is actually above or below. ideal weight, such as measuring the fat fold, for example.
Therefore, BMI is not the ideal parameter for assessing the ideal weight by:
In addition, it is contracted in cases of malnutrition, ascites, edema and in cingered patients.
A nutritionist will be able to personally perform all the calculations necessary to assess your weight and the amount you need to gain or lose weight, taking into account your overall health.
It is important to have the ideal weight because the right weight is closely related to the health of the person.
It is important to have a small buildup of fat in the body so that there are energy reserves so that when the person gets sick, they have time to recover. However, excess fat builds up in the liver, waist and also in the arteries, making it difficult to pass through the blood, increasing the risk of heart disease.
Therefore, being at the ideal weight is important to improve health, prevent cardiovascular disease and improve quality of life. Thus, those who have low weight should increase their muscle volume to increase their weight in a healthy way and those who are overweight must burn fat to gain health.
Find out if your child is the right weight and how to get your child to that weight by clicking here.