Determine Your Own Body Mass

One way to determine if you're at a healthy weight is to calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI). Your BMI is a calculation that estimates how much body fat you have based on your weight and height. Even though you can calculate BMI on your own, it's a great idea to ask a registered dietitian or health care provider to help you figure out what it means. BMI is a good indicator, but can't tell the whole story.

Measuring BMI

Your child's Body Mass Index, or BMI for short, is an indicator of your height and weight, and may be plotted on a chart marked with ranges of weight as: underweight, healthy, overweight or obese. Knowing your BMI tells you part of the story of your health status. The higher your BMI falls above the healthy range, the greater the risk for having weight-related health problems. Talk to your health care provider for more information about what this information means to you. To receive an estimate of your BMI and learn what it means, enter your information into the calculator and click the 'submit' button.