Body Mass Index
Body Mass Index or BMI is a measure of weight of a person to his/her height. Body Mass Index is a general indicator of health and to determine if weight of the person falls within a healthy range.
Adults and BMI
A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal for most adults. A human body with a BMI of 30 and above is medically termed as obese and a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered as overweight. BMI below 20 indicates that the person is obese.
Children and BMI
Childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming rate, no wonder if it reaches epidemic levels and if present trends continue then obesity related health risks will attack them at a very younger age. Though BMI for children is calculated using same formula stated above but figures are different than for adults.
For more information, you can visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/healthy_living/your_weight/whatis_bmi.shtml