Body Mass Index, popularly known as BMI, is a way of calculating the fitness (or fatness!) ratio of the body. It has a simple formula, by which we can know our BMI quotient, and determine our present state of fitness. BMI figure is determined depending on the height and weight of a person.

Body Mass Index (BMI) = (Weight in Kilo grams) / (Height in Meters)²

or,

Body Mass Index (BMI) = (Weight in Pounds * 703) / (Height in Inches)²

For example, if your weight is 60 kilo gram, and your height is 1.5 meters, than your BMI will be : (60) / (1.5) ² = 26.66. Similarly, if you want to calculate your weight in pounds, then you can convert kilograms into pounds (1 Kg = Appx. 2.20 pounds), and meters in inches (1 meter = 39.37 inches), and calculate your BMI. The resulting figure will obviously be the same!

The BMI figure thus obtained in indicative of our present status of body weight, and it can be compared with help of the following chart:

• BMI less than 18.5 means that your body is Underweight.

• If BMI is between 18.5 to 24.9 means that your body has Normal weight.

• BMI is between 25-29.9 means that your body is Overweight.

• And, if BMI is equal to or greater than 30, it means that you Are Obese

So the person in the above example has a BMI of 26.66, which means that he is slightly overweight, and needs to burn some fats.

Although there are various theories, and debate on what exactly is an ideal eight for a body, BMI is still an effective indicative method, if not the exact one, to determine where do you presently stand in terms of weight, and how much fats you need to loss or gain, as the case may be!