Determining Your Body Mass Index 

What is body mass index?

Determining how much you should weigh is not a simple matter of looking at an insurance height-weight chart, but includes considering the amount of bone, muscle, and fat in your body's composition. The amount of fat is the critical measurement.

A good indicator of how much fat you carry is the Body Mass Index (BMI). Although it is not a perfect measure, it gives a fairly accurate assessment of how much of your body is composed of fat.

A BMI between 25 and 29 is considered overweight. If you are 100 pounds overweight or have a BMI of 30 or more, you are considered obese. An individual with a BMI of 40 or greater, or 35 or greater with other health problems, such as diabetes or high blood pressure are "morbidly obese" and may be a candidate for weight loss surgery.