In recent years, obesity has become one of the biggest risk factors causing a variety of life-threatening health problems. It has increased three-fold in the last four decades. To figure out if you’re at risk, there are many ways to test your BMI online.
Obesity can result from poor eating habits and an inactive lifestyle. In such a scenario, a lot of people look for ways to manage weight.
BMI is a term that is used widely when measuring and managing weight. This simple term represents a key index relating to a person’s height and weight.
In this guide, let us discuss how you can test your BMI online and stay on the top of your health and fitness.
What Is BMI?
BMI or Body Mass Index is a value obtained from one’s height and weight measurements. Calculating your BMI is a way to find out whether your weight falls within a healthy range. It is an index used universally to measure health risks associated with weight.
Doctors often use this value to determine whether you are underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese. This means it is an important factor in maintaining optimum health and fitness.
A normal value of BMI indicates that you have an ideal weight. A healthy BMI can keep you free from the risks of diseases like type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart problems.
Body Mass Index is the ratio of a person’s weight and the height. It is a quantified measure of the amount of fat, muscles and bones in the body.
To be able to use BMI, you should know how to calculate it and the normal and other ranges for the values.
How To Test BMI
A BMI test means calculation of your body mass index. To be able to calculate the index, you should measure your height in metres and weight in kilogram.
A BMI test measures the body fat level. You can use the BMI calculation formula to calculate it manually using your height and weight measurements.
BMI = weight (in kgs) / [height (in metres)]2
However, if you don’t want to calculate by yourself, you can test your BMI online using BMI calculator tools available on the internet. This online tool calculates your BMI value automatically using the height and weight you enter.
A BMI calculator is a useful online tool that gives you an indication of your body fat and tells you whether your weight falls within a healthy range. The online calculator uses the mathematical formula to calculate your Body Mass Index value based on your height and weight measurements.
The BMI calculator works for both men and women and tells you what range of weight you fall into.
While a basic online BMI calculator returns the BMI value and weight range for your weight and height, some more powerful tools even tell you your healthy weight and how much you should lose to get into the healthy range. Such insights make it easy for you to use BMI for your weight management and health tracking.
BMI calculator works for adults and should not be used for children. Apart from this, a BMI calculator may not work for you if you are a highly active individual or an athlete.
This is because your body weight is high because of the muscle mass and not fat, which is healthy but you get a higher BMI. In this case, high BMI reading does not indicate health risks.
Your BMI value can fall into one of the five categories to give an indication of your health. While these values can differ for different countries, the general interpretation of BMI for the Asian body types is as follows:
- Less than 18.5 – Underweight
- Between 18.5 – 24.9 – Normal weight
- Between 25 – 29.9 – Overweight
- Between 30 – 35 – Obese
- More than 35 – Severely obese
A BMI that does not fall in the normal weight category can indicate health risks for you. A high BMI is associated with the risks of developing conditions like diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoarthritis, liver diseases and certain types of cancers. By making changes to your diet and lifestyle and indulging in moderate exercises, you can lower your body fat and get a healthy BMI value.
Just like high BMI, low BMI can also indicate risks for health problems. If you don’t have sufficient body fat and healthy weight, you can experience conditions like anaemia, reduced immune function, bone loss and heart issues. You can consult a doctor to find out how you can have a healthy weight range.
Are BMI Tests Reliable?
Body Mass Index is a broad picture of how your weight is affecting your health and the risks of medical issues. Though it may not give the exact measure of these risks, it provides valuable feedback.
It is a good idea to test your BMI online, but it is advisable to use the feedback in the context of other measurements to get reliable insight into your health and medical risks.
There are two important measurements that you can use with BMI calculation to analyze your health and weight.
Waist To Hip Ratio – This value is obtained by dividing the waist measurement by the hip measurement.
The ratio of over 0.9 for men and 0.85 for women is associated with increased risks of health problems.
Waist To Height Ratio – This ratio is obtained by dividing your waist by height. It is recommended that your waist circumference should be less than half of your height. This means a ratio of 0.5 or lower is an ideal value.
Testing your BMI online is a quick, easy and convenient way of assessing your health on the basis of your body weight and height.
Online calculators make it affordable to test your BMI on a routine basis to maintain good health and avoid risks of serious health conditions like type 2 diabetes, hypertension and other problems.
Visit https://bodytracker.org/bmi-calculator/ to test your BMI.