Height and weight

Last update on December 31st, 2017 by Alicia in category: Weight

How much should i weigh? May I weigh too much for my size? Am i too thin What is my ideal weight? The topic Weight many people are not only occupied during a diet. In the most Bathrooms are the enemy of many men and women – the scales -, which, depending on the display, can sweeten or destroy the day.

There are numerous weight tables and formulas circulating on the Internet and numerous specialist books, which show you in black and white how much you can weigh for your height. The most well-known key figure for the relationship between height and weight is the Body mass index (short: BMI).

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But is there "right weight"That you can calculate with a special formula? Let’s take a closer look at the calculation of the BMI.

Calculate the ratio of height and weight with BMI

To calculate the BMI, the weight (in kg) is divided by the height (in m) squared. (Approximately the body surface should be determined from the square of the body size.)

The well-known BMI formula is therefore:

If you don’t have a calculator at hand, you can easily use this small formula BMI calculator to calculate. Simply enter weight in kg and height in cm and read BMI:

But what does this value say exactly now??

For one, you should know that the BMI formula for adults applies and for children and youth is calculated differently. The calculated body mass index enables a first classification of weight in relation to body size.

The following table (classification by WHO) can be used to classify the calculated BMI value:

BMI weight classification

BMI (kg / m²)	category	interpretation
How meaningful is the BMI?

As can be seen from the BMI formula, only two values, namely body height and body weight, are used to calculate the BMI and the resulting assessment of the height-weight ratio.

Body structure, age and gender are not taken into account in the calculation. Here, e.g. a different body composition from the fat and muscle tissue of two people lead to the same BMI, but not to the same interpretation.

Because mass is not always the same. The BMI does not take into account whether it is excess fat mass or valuable muscle mass. How to get there athlete because of your higher muscle mass quickly a BMI over 25 and would be considered overweight according to the weight classification.

In addition to the percentage of fat and muscle tissue, it also plays individual statue of man for the body weight a role. Petite people with narrow shoulders and hips tend to weigh less because of their physique than people with broad shoulders and hips. The latter do not have to be overweight or have health problems due to their higher body weight.

Men naturally have a higher muscle percentage than women. Therefore, the normal weight for men is also in a slightly higher class, namely between a BMI of 20 – 25. The BMI value classes for normal weight for women are between 19 and 24. Das gender should therefore also be taken into account when interpreting the BMI.

In addition to the body structure and gender, that is also Age a not negligible factor. The BMI is usually higher in older people, but this is also normal. The tolerance values for the BMI thus increase slightly:

BMI tolerance values by age

Age	BMI for normal weight
19-24	19-24
25-34	20-25
35-44	21-26
45-54	22-27
55-64	23-28
> 65	24-29

at amputations the body mass, i.e. the weight of the part of the body that is no longer present, must be added. For this, there are either special BMI calculators for amputations or you can use tables that can be used to calculate the theoretical body weight using a formula.

As you can see, the body mass index can only provide a rough guide. It is not possible to make a clear statement about the relationship between height and weight with the BMI alone. The BMI can therefore only be used to a limited extent and is meaningful.

Normal weight, ideal weight and feel-good weight

There is no one right weight. The BMI does provide a guideline for normal weight, but, as already considered, this should be used with caution. Another well-known formula for calculating normal weight and ideal weight is the Broca-Index.

The Broca index developed by Paul Broca was, so to speak, the predecessor of the body mass- >

To determine the ideal weight, 10 percent of the normal weight was subtracted from men and 15 percent from women. The Broca index was later replaced by the BMI, as this also provided more significant results with larger differences in body size.

One thing is clear in the whole arithmetic: Weight has always played a central role for people. The Weight loss trend and weight control has become increasingly stronger in recent years. Celebrities and other public figures live in magazines, other print media, films and TV every day to find out what a perfect body should look like. The fact that Photoshop and hard-hitting crash diets don’t play a minor role before the pompous and impressive appearances or photo shoots is usually not important. pushed aside.

The prevailing Beauty Ideal, The fact that no love handles allow too much often means that your own body weight is given too much importance in life. There is e.g. made the mood dependent on the display on the scales. A calculated normal or ideal weight often becomes the target, which one tries to approach as quickly as possible with diets or starvation diets.

Certainly is strong overweight Harmful and therefore normal weight is definitely desirable, but a few extra pounds are not a reason to drive yourself crazy. In addition, it is usually best to notice yourself whether you have a weight that you feel comfortable with or not.

I weigh too much or too little for my size? The best way to answer this question is by yourself. As long as your own body weight does not lead to health restrictions or increased risks, it should be more important whether you feel comfortable in your skin. Weight tables and calculators can help to classify the weight, but they are not the non-plus-ultra.

As long as you are in your skin feels good and taking care of his health are BMI, Libra & Co. irrelevant!

About Alicia

I am Alicia, 33 years old and I live in Hamburg. During my studies in business psychology, I started to deal with nutrition on a scientific basis. On my blog, I share detailed information on everything to do with nutrition, diet, health and weight loss. Today I am also a passionate strength athlete and I am committed to a healthy lifestyle.