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What is Body Mass Index (BMI)?

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a tool for indicating weight status in adults. The BMI ranges are based on the effect weight has on disease and death. As BMI increases, the risk for some disease increases. The following are common conditions related to overweight and obesity: premature death, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, some cancers and diabetes. BMI is only one of many risk factors used to predict risk of disease.

Calculate Your Body Mass Index (BMI)

BMI is a measure of weight for height and falls within these categories:

BMI	Weight Status	Waist less than or equal to 40 in. (men) 35in. (women)	Waist Greater than 40 in. (men) or 35in. (women)
Below 18.5	Underweight	--	N/A
18.5-24.9	Normal	--	Overweight
25.0-29.9	N/A	Increased	High
30.0-34.9	Obese	High	Very High
35.0-39.9	Obese	Very High	Very High
40 or above	Extremely Obese	Extremely High	Extremely High

BMI: CHILDREN AND YOUTH

BMI for children and adolescents is based on gender and age because of their rate of growth and development and should be tracked over time. BMI is used for children and adolescents because it is easy to use, it provides a reference for adolescents that can be used beyond puberty, it compares well with other measurements of body fat, and can be used to track body size throughout life.

To view the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) BMI charts for Boys or Girls, ages 2 - 20, please click below to download the desired chart.

CDC BMI Chart for Boys Ages 2 - 20 (122 KB PDF File)
CDC BMI Chart for Girls Ages 2 - 20 (123 KB PDF File)

The Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to open the PDFs. Most browsers contain the Acrobat Reader. If you do not have it installed on your computer, you can download it (free) at the Adobe web site.