How Much Should I Weigh for Optimal Health?

November 25, 2007 by Jeff Ainslie
Filed under: Fat Loss, General, Obesity 

In the 50’s, Insurance Companies began releasing height and weight charts for men and women which told you how much you should weigh depending on your height. These charts fell out of favor with the public because only a small segment of the population fit into their ideals. Similar charts are still used today by some physicians, sports teams and the military.

BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is the latest measure of what an ideal body weight should be. It is technically your weight (in kilograms) divided by your height (in meters) squared. There is no distinction between men and women. Here is an online BMI calculator from the NIH.

Here are the BMI categories:

  • Underweight = <18.5
  • Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
  • Overweight = 25-29.9
  • Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

Don’t just rely on BMI and an indicator of your health and fitness because there are some major problems with BMI. First of all, there is no distinction between men and women. Men naturally have more muscle than women and are heavier. A man and a woman at the exact height and weight would have the same BMI, but the man could look very skinny and the woman quite overweight. Secondly, people with a high body fat composition and low weight, may seem healthy according to BMI, but they may be just as unhealthy as a much larger person.

The BMI is a good measure for looking at populations as a whole, because all physicians have height and weight data. For example, you can compare average Americans to Canadians to see which country on average is heavier. As an individual, we vary too much to have a “one size fits all” approach. However, if you are out in the extremes of BMI, either underweight or obese, it is obvious that you are in a poor health category.

So how much should you weigh? The bottom line is, it doesn’t really matter. Body fat percentage is the true measure of obesity, not weight.

Body Fat Percentages

The good news is that it is fairly easy to find out your own body fat. There are regular scales that can now tell you your weight and body fat on a daily basis, and their prices have come down quite a lot in that last couple of years. When you stand on the scale in your bare feet, a very small current goes up one leg and back down the other (You can’t feel it) to measure your body fat.

Body fat percentage is now considered the most important factor, because that is a fair measure for everybody. According to “Shape up America”, which is the former Surgeon General’s (Dr. Koop) anti obesity initiative, it issued an advisory stating that one’s body fat percentage is superior to the currently accepted body mass index (BMI), as a measure of healthy weight.

For more information and specific body fat percentage guidelines, here is the link to Shape Up America’s advisory against using BMI and rather to use body fat percentage.

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Comments

One Comment on How Much Should I Weigh for Optimal Health?

  1. Fat 2 Fit Radio » Blog Archive » Fat 2 Fit Show #8 - Don’t be a Skinny Fattie! on Mon, 3rd Dec 2007 10:57 am

    2. [...] Links mentioned in the show: ‘Brain Age’-style Games Don’t Work, Try Exercising Instead How to make exercise a habit Soda Fizzles Your Health Soda Rots Your teeth - not that we didn’t already know that Online BMI Calculator BMI is Bad according to Dr. Koop How Much Should You Weigh for Optimal Health? [...]

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