It can be said that as a society, we are generally concerned with the status of our weight and if we are overweight, underweight, or healthy. The most frequently used measurement for assessing what category we fall into is BMI, or Body Mass Index. If you have not heard of it then don’t worry, you have not been missing out on any real knowledge.
BMI is calculated via the following formula:
| BMI = ( kg/m² ) |
(weight in pounds * 703 ) |
| ————————————– | |
| height in inches² |
Thus, it is merely a factor of your weight and height. 703 is a conversion factor from imperial to metric units as the formula was originally derived by a Belgium statistician early in the nineteenth century. It is incredibly accurate at predicting the overall state of health of a population, but for individuals it is terrible. Now I will say that the CDC and most physicians use this measurement as a general rule of thumb, but it is still mind boggling trying to figure out why.
