For several hundred years, human society is changing more and more rapidly. Together with him, and the disease - about some we heard only from history textbooks, while others came to the fore recently.
The latter include alimentary diseases - a series of conditions that arise as a result of irrational provision of the body with nutrients and often (but not necessarily) associated with the pathology of the digestive or endocrine system. One of the most important indicators that are used in the diagnosis of diseases associated with changes in nutritional status is body mass index. About him and will be discussed below.
What is BMI and why you should be able to count it
Today, overweight is one of the most common problems among residents of developed countries. For example, in Russia about 57% of the adult population suffer from it.
You can find out if you have a few extra pounds by calculating the body mass index (BMI) - the value that characterizes the ratio of weight and height of a person. Its main advantages are the accuracy of the reflection of the state of the body, as well as the relative simplicity of calculation at home. In addition, if you play sports, you can adjust the goals and training plan.
How to count
The calculation formula is very simple: a BMI is equal to the ratio of actual body weight (kg) to growth in a square (m2). How to calculate correctly?
Let's try to make calculations for a person weighing 70 kg and growing 170 cm. BMI = 70 / (1.7 * 1.7) = 24.2. Body weight is ideal (BMI in the range of 18.5 - 25 kg / m2), insufficient (index below 18.5 kg / m2), excessive (from 25 to 30 kg / m2).
When the body mass index is more than 30 kg / m2then we should talk about obesity. If the body mass for BMI is too large, or vice versa - you need to know the ideal mass of a person. To do this, you can use the table of BMI standards given the age proposed by the Russian scientist A.A. Pokrovsky:
To determine the constitutional type of body, an index of proportionality between height and chest circumference is used: the chest circumference (cm) is multiplied by 100 and divided by height (cm). If we get a result less than 50, then this is asthenia. If more than 55 - hypersthenia.
BMI of children
For children, BMI is calculated using the same formula as for adults. The indicators are individual for each age group and therefore it is common to use special centile tables, which are developed by scientists, to assess the level of child development. We suggest you to get acquainted with the version of the table for boys:
And for girls:
Monthly centile tables also exist for babies, but we highly recommend consulting your pediatrician before making any conclusions about your baby.
BMI during pregnancy
Knowing your own BMI, a pregnant woman can roughly estimate how much her weight should increase every two weeks:
Total
As you can see, body mass index is a truly universal indicator with which you can solve a very wide range of tasks. But it should be borne in mind that it is not without flaws. The main problem is that the calculation does not take into account the ratio of fat and muscle tissue in the body.
Thus, if you calculate the BMI for an experienced athlete, you may be surprised, because in reality the subject will have the body of Apollo, and on paper - obesity of the third degree.
From this it follows that to weigh in after a hearty lunch is not the best idea.
If, after all the calculations, you have doubts about your own physical form, we recommend consulting with a nutritionist, a gastroenterologist and an endocrinologist. You should not starve yourself or grueling workouts until the cause of the pathology is established.
That's all. We wish you good health!
Some more additional information about calculating body mass index can be obtained from this video.
