Body Mass Index | Medindia

Forgot your password?

Benefits of Registration

Become a member

Quick Registration

Full Registration Benefits -

Free Homepages for Doctors

Free Homepages for Hospitals

Free Homepages for Medical Conference

Free Homepages for NGO's

Personal Health Record Creation

Access to all Medical Slides

Access to all Jobs & Products Sale

Explore Medindia

Medindia » Consumer Health » Health Information » Body Mass Index - About

Disease Info Index

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I
J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R
S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z

Body Mass Index

	About
	BMI Limitations
	Calculating BMI
	BMI For Children
	Your Health and BMI
	Latest Publication and Research
	Reference

Page Options

Email

RSS Feeds

Print

Save

Link

Syndicate

Body Mass Index (BMI)
About

Text

Body mass index (BMI) is a simple tool that is generally used to estimate the total amount of body fat.

It was first invented in the 19th century by a Belgian polymath called Adolphe Quetelet, hence it is also known as Quetelet Index.BMI gained popularity as a body weight-tracking device in the mid twentieth century. This coincided with the time when obesity began to raise its ugly head in the more prosperous west. It became a tool whereby a doctor could actually guage a patient being too heavy or too thin and even discuss the issue with the individual. To calculate BMI, you need to know your weight and height in kilo-grams and centimeters or meters. The weight of a person is then divided by the height.If you only know your height and weight in inches and pounds the calculation is a little more complex.A change in BMI over a short period of time is often used to measure the change in one’s lifestyle habits.People of the same age and sex have different BMI depending on the amount of fat content in the body. However, with BMI, some exceptions apply to the general rules and there is the risk of both over- or under- estimating the total amount of body fat in an individual. Due to this shortcoming some researchers use it only as a tool for population measure.Although not a perfect index in predicting health risks, BMI is able to predict the underlying risks in a large population and can be used as an early warning sign that can suggest if lifestyle changes are required or not.

Latest Publication and Research on Body Mass Index - Updated on 12/06/2011

Renin-angiotensin system activity in vitamin D deficient, obese individuals with hypertension: An urban Indian study. - Published by PubMed

Randomized controlled trial for an effect of catechin-enriched green tea consumption on adiponectin and cardiovascular disease risk factors. - Published by PubMed

Differences between the factors affecting high-risk drinking and those affecting smoking in Korea. - Published by PubMed

Elevated Resting Heart Rate Is Associated With White Blood Cell Count in Middle- Aged and Elderly Individuals Without Apparent Cardiovascular Disease. - Published by PubMed

Long-term effects of changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index on all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in men: the aerobics center longitudinal study. - Published by PubMed

Share it!

Body Mass Index - BMI Limitations

Comment & Contribute

Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. Comments are normally moderated and are reviewed after they are posted.

* Your comment can be maximum of 2500 characters

Notify me when reply is posted
I agree to the terms and conditions

If you have a question about health related issues, you can now post it in our Ask An Expert section on our community website Medwonders.com and get answers from our panel of experts.

Related Links

•	Quiz on Obesity
•	Liposuction
•	Ideal Body weight – calculator
•	BMI - calculator

Citing this Health Article

The information on Medindia is factual, unbiased and authentic. If you find the content useful - PLEASE INCLUDE A LINK TO THIS PAGE. Highlight the text, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.