Body Mass Index Categories

BMI, or body mass index, is a generalized charting system utilized in the determination of healthy weight to height ratios. Accordingly, the BMI system is broken down in to several categories for determination of whether a person is under, over or within a safe level of weight based on their height. There are two separate scales, one for children, and another for adults however it is not further broken down after adulthood to or by ethnicity.

From a rank of 15, which is considered almost at the level of starvation, to over 40 for those who may be considered as morbidly obese, the BMI is used to help people to regain control of their lives, by ensuring that they return their weight to a normal level. Those who fall in both the under as well as over-weight categories are more susceptible to health conditions which may or may not be life threatening. Falling within the over or under categories has also been known to lower one’s life expectancy.

It is still possible for one to fall lower than 15 on the BMI as well as over 40, but those who fall above or below these levels are accordingly close to the end of their life span as thus the terminology of near starvation or morbid obesity.

The values that are found on the body mass index were created in direct conjunction with the Center for Disease Control as well as the World Health Organization. To make the index more simplified, these two international authorities on disease and health have stated that anyone whose BMI is less than an 18.5 is considered to be under-weight, while those who are above 25 is considered to be over-weight. The scaled index then continues its categorical indexing based on the extremeness of the over or under-weight levels. 

Accordingly, the following values are based on the adult index. In this index, any person whose BMI falls lower than 16 is considered to fall within the starvation category. Following up the scale from under to over weight, those who fall between 16.5 and 18.5 on the BMI are considered to be under-weight. A normal level of weight to height ratio is from 18.5 to 25 and accordingly the category of over-weight ranges from 25 to 30. Following the over-weight category, the next level on the BMI scale is of course obese which falls between 30 and 35 while clinically obese ranges from 35 to 40. The highest level one can achieve on the BMI is morbidly obese.

According to a 1994 study in the United States known as the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, shows that of the general populous, 59% of male Americans and another 49% of American females have a BMI of over 25 which places them as over weight. Together, more than one half of the U.S. is considered to be over-weight. Another 2% of American males and 4% of American females were also found to have a DMI of over 40 placing them as morbidly obese.

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