Enter your height and weight. You will see straight away whether you are under, in range or over - and what a healthy weight looks like for you.
BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It is a simple calculation that tells you whether your weight is low, healthy or high for your height. The formula is straightforward - divide your weight by your height squared:
BMI = weight (kg) ÷ [height (m) × height (m)]
Say you weigh 70 kg and stand 1.70 m tall. That gives you 70 ÷ (1.70 × 1.70) = 24.2.
Most of the world treats a BMI up to 25 as normal. For Indians the cut off is 22.9. At the same weight, South Asians tend to carry more fat around the abdomen, and the risk of diabetes and heart disease starts earlier. That is why this calculator uses the Indian range of 18.5 to 22.9.
BMI cannot tell whether your weight is muscle or fat. Someone who lifts regularly might score 27 and still be in excellent shape. So treat BMI as a starting signal only - your body fat percentage and waist measurement paint a far more accurate picture.
Do not panic. Start by finding your daily calorie need with the calorie calculator, then eat about 400-500 below it and train three or four days a week. Losing half a kilo to a kilo a week is a perfectly healthy pace. Go faster than that and you start losing muscle along with the fat.
Everything on this page is worked out from a formula or from published averages. It has never met you, and it cannot see your blood pressure, your medication or an old injury.
Talk to a doctor before you start if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a heart condition, diabetes or high blood pressure, take regular medication, have or have had an eating disorder, are recovering from injury or surgery, or are under 18. Stop and get advice if any exercise causes pain, dizziness or chest discomfort.
More about where these numbers come from is on the about page.
