Your body holds on to extra calories and turns them into fat. But being obese usually comes from eating more calories than you use. Several things help determine a person’s weight, including genes and hormones. The waist-to-hip guidelines differ by sex because men tend to carry extra weight in their bellies, while women show it more in the hips and buttocks. Men with a waist-to-hip ratio higher than 0.9 have too much of a belly (think apple-shaped).Women with a number higher than 0.85 are carrying too much weight (more like a pear).
But in general, here are the guidelines for men and women:
They are both common, general screening tools. Like BMI, measuring your waist doesn’t show for sure that you’re overweight. The waist is key because tummy fat can be more serious and put you at a greater risk of things like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. There’s a second way to get an idea of how close you are to a healthy weight - just measure your waist. If you think you are obese or have questions about healthy weight, talk to your doctor. And BMI can underestimate fat in older people and others who have lost muscle. It’s not meant to give a diagnosis or tell you for sure that you have a weight problem.įor example of how it can be off, muscular people might have a high BMI without being obese. The other ranges are:īMI is a common tool to give you some idea of where you are.
Obesity in adults is defined as having a BMI of 30.0 or above. So, for example, if you weigh 185 pounds and are 5-foot-5 (65 inches), then your BMI works out this way:ġ30,005 ÷ 4,225 = 30.78 (round up to 30.8) To figure out your BMI, just use this math formula: Multiply your weight in pounds by 703 and divide it by your height (in inches) squared. The first is called body mass index (BMI). It’s pretty easy to figure out the estimated healthy weight. The country’s obesity problem is well known: 1 in 3 of us is obese, and the rate is rising.īut you still might wonder what a healthy weight is, and how to get there (and stay there) the right way. Many Americans struggle to control their weight.