This body adiposity index (BAI) calculator estimates your body fat percentage and status (underweight, healthy, overweight or obese) which measures how much of your total body mass consists of fat. There is in depth explanation about the formula employed below the tool.
How does this body adiposity index calculator work?
This health application can help you discover the body adiposity index without considering the weight as the BMI calculation requires. It takes account of the following figures that should be provided:
- Your age in years.
- Your gender.
- Hip circumference in inches or centimeters.
- Height in feet and/or inches (English measurement system) or in centimeters (Metric units).
The algorithm behind this body adiposity index calculator applies the formula explained here:
Where:
English
Hip circumference in meters = Inches * 0.0254
Height in meters = feet * 0.3048 + inches * 0.0254
Metric
Hip circumference in meters = Centimeters * 0.01
Height in meters = Centimeters * 0.01
Apart from the BAI percentage, in case the specified age is within the range [20 – 79] years, this tool will also return the classification level which is gender specific as detailed below:
|
Gender |
Age range (years) |
BAI percentage (%) |
Status |
||
|
[ Min. |
Max. ] |
[ Min. |
Max. ) |
||
|
Male |
20 |
39 |
- |
21 |
Underweight |
|
Male |
40 |
59 |
- |
23 |
Underweight |
|
Male |
60 |
79 |
- |
25 |
Underweight |
|
Male |
20 |
39 |
21 |
33 |
Healthy |
|
Male |
40 |
59 |
23 |
35 |
Healthy |
|
Male |
60 |
79 |
25 |
38 |
Healthy |
|
Male |
20 |
39 |
33 |
39 |
Overweight |
|
Male |
40 |
59 |
35 |
41 |
Overweight |
|
Male |
60 |
79 |
38 |
43 |
Overweight |
|
Male |
20 |
39 |
39 |
|
Obese |
|
Male |
40 |
59 |
41 |
|
Obese |
|
Male |
60 |
79 |
43 |
|
Obese |
|
Female |
20 |
39 |
- |
8 |
Underweight |
|
Female |
40 |
59 |
- |
11 |
Underweight |
|
Female |
60 |
79 |
- |
13 |
Underweight |
|
Female |
20 |
39 |
8 |
21 |
Healthy |
|
Female |
40 |
59 |
11 |
23 |
Healthy |
|
Female |
60 |
79 |
13 |
25 |
Healthy |
|
Female |
20 |
39 |
21 |
26 |
Overweight |
|
Female |
40 |
59 |
23 |
29 |
Overweight |
|
Female |
60 |
79 |
25 |
31 |
Overweight |
|
Female |
20 |
39 |
26 |
|
Obese |
|
Female |
40 |
59 |
29 |
|
Obese |
|
Female |
60 |
79 |
31 |
|
Obese |
Table source: the table with the BAI ranges gender specific which was implemented in the algorithm of this calculator (in order to show a rough body fat status for people aged between 20 - 79 years), was adapted considering Gallagher D, Heymsfield SB, Heo M, Jebb SA, Murgatroyd PR, Sakamoto Y. Healthy percentage body fat ranges: an approach for developing guidelines based on body mass index. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Sep.
Understanding BAI concept and its usage
-Advantage: It is a simple rough approximation of the body fat percentage that does not take account of the weight figure. It came out as an alternative to BMI and aimed at helping at the estimation of the obesity level. Instead it takes account of the hip circumference that should be measured at the maximum extension of the buttocks posteriorly.
-Disadvantage: basically has the same limitation as the BMI formula that measures the relative proportion of the weight in kg against the double of the height in meters, meaning that it doesn't take into account body fat or muscle amount and can lead to inaccurancies, especially when calculated in the case of sports people.
Reference
Freedman DS, Thornton JC, Pi-Sunyer FX, Heymsfield SB, Wang J, Pierson RN Jr, Blanck HM, Gallagher D. (2012) The body adiposity index (hip circumference / height(1.5)) is not a more accurate measure of adiposity than is BMI, waist circumference, or hip circumference. Obesity (Silver Spring); 20(12):2438-44.
01 May, 2015