This healthy weight calculator estimates the ideal body weight value out of five healthy mass formulas that you can use in both metric and English. Discover below the weight calculations all there is to know about these equations and some tips on how to achieve and maintain your ideal weight.
How does the healthy weight calculator work?
The above calculation takes account of the subject’s age, gender and height and returns an estimate of the healthy weights as they vary from the five IBW and BMI formulas listed below. You can input your height either in centimeters or feet and inches but be careful with the unit of measurement that you are using because this is going to be the one used in the results as well. So if you input your height in cm the ideal weight will be listed in kg while as for the English measure it will be listed in lbs. You data is then put in the four ideal weight formulas which were released by J.D. Robinson and D.R. Miller, B.J. Devine and G.J. Hamwi and by the Healthy BMI range recommendation made by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Weight formulas used
In order to determine which is the healthy weight recommended for either a woman or a man and according to their height, there are certain ideal body weight formulas to be used just like in the calculation form above. These are all listed in the table below.
|
Author |
Year |
IBW women |
IBW men |
||
|
Kg |
Kg per inch over 5 feet |
Kg |
Kg per inch over 5 feet |
||
|
G. J. Hamwi |
1964 |
45.5 |
2.2 |
48.0 |
2.7 |
|
B. J. Devine |
1974 |
45.5 |
2.3 |
50.0 |
2.3 |
|
D. R. Miller |
1983 |
53.1 |
1.36 |
56.2 |
1.41 |
|
J.D. Robinson |
1983 |
49 |
1.7 |
52 |
1.9 |
Example weight calculation:
For a 35 year old male with a height of 6 feet and 4 inches the results are:
- By using Miller’s formula (1983), your healthy weight is 173.6 lbs;
- By using Robinson’s formula (1983), your healthy weight is 181.7 lbs;
- By using Devine’s formula (1974), your healthy weight is 191.4 lbs;
- By using Hamwi’s formula (1964), your healthy weight is 201.1 lbs;
- Your recommended weight, based on the healthy BMI recommendation is between 152 lbs and 205.4 lbs.
Interpreting the results
The weight form above uses the Healthy BMI range recommendation which was released by the World Health Organization (WHO) 1995, 2000 and 2004. This states that the healthy range of weight should be between BMI values of 18 to 25 for both men and women.
What is really classed as healthy weight?
Healthy weight is a level of the body’s weight we all refer to as being the most appropriate and to benefit most the body. There is no 100% accurate equation to estimate ideal body weight, but the results that the existing formulas provide are approximate and can give us some clues on what is our healthy weight. The departure point in assessing that is our height. You then can obtain the healthy intervals in which you should stand. BMI for instance, is considered to be a quite reliable indicator of body fatness, even though BMI does not measure body fat directly.
References
1) Pai, MP; Paloucek, FP (2000) The Origin of the Ideal Body Weight Equations. The Annals of Pharmacotherapy 34 (9): 1066–1069
2) Walpole SC, Prieto-Merino D, Edwards P, Cleland J, Stevens G, Roberts I et al. (2012) The weight of nations: an estimation of adult human biomass. BMC Public Health (BMC Public Health, 12:439
17 Dec, 2014