Calculate BMI

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TDEE/BMR Calculator

Calculate your daily calorie expenditure (TDEE) and basal metabolic energy expenditure (BMR).

Calorie calculator

The calorie calculator gives information on how much energy, fat, carbohydrate, protein, sugar, salt and other nutrients are in the foods you have entered into calculator.

BRI

BRI (Body roundness index) measures the roundness of the body and it is one alternative to BMI. BRI's calculation formula better takes into account body shape.

New BMI

The calculator gives you the new BMI. It is developed by the British mathematician Nick Trefethen. According to him, the traditional BMI will give shorter people too low values and too big values to taller people.

1RM

The One-Rep Max calculator calculates an estimate of your one-rep max, or the maximum weight you can lift for a given exercise. The calculator tells you the set weights for different rep ranges, making it easier to plan your next workout.

Max heart rate

This calculator uses the calculation formula developed by Tanaka 2001 (208 - 0.7 × age). It produces more reliable results for younger and older people.

Heart rate zones

Heart rate zones help you monitor the intensity of endurance training. To calculate your target heart rates, you need your maximum heart rate and your resting heart rate.

Calories & nutrients

The exact composition of foods: calories, sugar, salt, protein, fat, carbohydrate and other nutrients. Also calculate the values with different gram amounts.

Waist-hip ratio

Calculate your waist-hip ratio. The index is calculated simply by dividing the waist circumference with a hip circumference. The value of the index is interpreted differently depending on the gender.

Waist circumference

Measuring waist circumference is a good way to find out your own health risks. Fat in the abdominal cavity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. The risk of diabetes also increases.

BMI classes for adultsIndex values
Severe thinness< 16
Moderate thinness16 - < 17
Mild thinness17 - < 18.5
Normal weight18.5 - < 25
Overweight25 - < 30
Obesity level I30 - < 35
Obesity level II35 - < 40
Obesity level III40 -
Interpretation of BMI for people over 65 years oldIndex values
Below normal weight< 23
Normal weight23 - 29
Above normal weight> 29 - < 30
Weight reduction may be appropriate in some cases30 - < 35
Weight reduction is probably appropriate35 -

Source: World Health Organization (WHO) & Käypähoito

It's good to keep in mind that you shouldn't draw any hasty conclusions about thinness or fatness from the body mass index you get. For a person over 65, the recommended normal BMI value is 23–29. Even values ​​23–33 have shown a lower risk of death in studies. Weight loss for an over 65-year-old may only be necessary if the BMI exceeds 35.

BMI formula

BMI is a measure of body weight based on a person's weight and height. It is defined as the body weight divided by the square of the body height.

BMI = Weight(kg) Height(m) 2

After calculating your BMI you will also know how much you should either fatten or lose weight to reach the normal weight limits. BMI is used to estimate a healthy body weight, assuming an average body composition.

Alternatives to BMI

The traditional weight index has been proposed to be changed. For example, Oxford University professor Nick Trefethen has suggested changing the exponent from 2 -> 2.5 and multiplying the result by 1.3. This so-called new BMI calculator can also be found on these pages. A feature of this calculator is that it is kinder to tall people. It gives 169 cm tall the same value as the traditional BMI, but gives a larger value for shorter people and a smaller value for taller people.

However, the new BMI suffers from the same problem as the traditional one. Although it may take account for the height better, it still does not account for individual differences in human body composition. And it is also not suitable for use by children, young people or the elderly.

Measuring waist circumference is a better way to assess fatness or thinness, taking into account individual differences. Fat that accumulates around the waist increases your health risks. On the website you can also find waist-hip ratio calculator and BRI calculator, whose calculation formula takes into account body shape better than BMI. You can also calculate your daily energy requirement and calorie intake.

Who invented BMI? Adolphe Quetelet and Ancel Keys

The weight index calculation formula was originally developed by the Belgian mathematician, statistician, sociologist and astronomer Adolphe Quetelet (1796-1874). The name of the index at that time was "Quetelet Index", according to its inventor.

The formula developed by Quetelet can well be seen as part of his extensive life's work, where this genius saw mathematics and probability distributions in various phenomena around him. Quetelet studied the development of weight and height in men, women and at different ages and found that in adults the ratio of height to the square of weight remains very constant. Quetelet was not inspired by measuring fatness or thinness as such, but was interested in mathematics in nature and in people. Quetelet's work "A Treatise on Man and the Development of his Faculties" is a classic of sociology and statistics.

The index developed by Quetelet was positioned for its current purpose by the American Ancel Keys (1904-2004), whose specialty was the impact of nutrition on health. At this point, it had already been established that excessive adipose tissue had a detrimental effect on health. Keys reinvented the BMI. In the article "Indices of Relative Weight and Obesity", which appeared in the "International Journal of Epidemiology" in 1972, it is explained that it was Quetelet's formula that best estimated body fat percentage by using just height and weight. In the article, the formula is also renamed "body mass index". In addition to Ancel Keys, the authors of the article were Flaminio Finanza, Noburu Kimura, Henry Taylor and Martti Karvonen.

The pros and cons of BMI

BMI is easy to calculate and the internet is full of different BMI calculators :). It also gives the average person a very accurate measure of the fat percentage.

However, it can be said that BMI is too generalizing. Women's fat percentage is somewhat higher than men's, but the same BMI and its interpretations are used for both men and women. So, in a way, BMI makes women slim and makes men fat because a greater proportion of men's weight is in muscle and less in fat. BMI also does not take into account individual differences such as muscularity at all.

BMI is also not suitable for assessing obesity or thinness in children and adolescents and older people.

More information:
Quetelet: A Treatise on Man and the Development of his Faculties, 1835, In English 1842
Keys, Fidanda, Karvonen, Kimura, Taylor: Indices of relative weight and obesity, 1972, republished 2014
Trefethen: BMI (Body Mass Index), 2013