vo Dinov
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, Math/PIC
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Calculator for the Body Mass Index for Adults 

English Calculation

Height:  feet
and  inch(es)
Weight:  pounds
(Note: 8 ounces = 0.5 pounds)

Your BMI:

BMI Weight Status
Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5 – 24.9 Normal
25.0 – 29.9 Overweight
30.0 and Above Obese

What Does This All Mean?

Drawing of a man with a muscular buildDrawing of a man with a fat build


BMI = (             Weight in Pounds             
(Height in inches) x (Height in inches)
) x 703


Metric Calculation

Height:  Meters
(Note: 1 Meter = 100cm)
Weight:  Kilograms

Your BMI:

 
BMI Weight Status
Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5 – 24.9 Normal
25.0 – 29.9 Overweight
30.0 and Above Obese

What Does This All Mean?


Drawing of a man with a muscular buildDrawing of a man with a fat build


BMI =             Weight in Kilograms             
(Height in Meters) x (Height in Meters)
 


Obesity continued to increase dramatically during the late 1990s

  • Nearly 33% of all adults now classified as obese, according to new data from the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination.
  • Nowadays 31 % of adults 20 years of age and over (~59 million people) have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater,
  • In 1994 23 % of adults were obese according to the National Center for Health Statistics,enters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  • Number of Children who are overweight (defined as BMI-for-age at or above the 95th % of the CDC Growth Charts) continues to increase.  Children and teens ages 6-19, 15 % (almost 9 million) are overweight according to the 1999-2000 data, or triple what the proportion was in 1980
  • Virtually a doubling in the number of obese persons over the past 20 yrs has profound health implications.  Obesity increases a person's risk for a number of serious conditions, including:  diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and some types of cancer.
  • Gender/Race: More adult women are obese (33 %) than men (28 %), with the problem greatest among non-Hispanic black women (50 %) compared with Mexican-American women (40 %) and non-Hispanic white women (30 %).  There was practically no difference in obesity levels among men based on race/ethnicity.
CDC/NCHS Web site
AgePath_BMI

Hands-On
1. Compute your own BMI:
2. Tally BMI's for entire class and make a histogram (SOCR):

BMI
< 19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
> 30
Frequency













3. Compute Mean and Standard Deviation of the class BMI measures
4. Proportion of students in each category: underweight, normal, overweight, obese
5. What is the 90% for the BMI measures for the class?
6. What is the central 80% of the MBI indeces? Can we assume a Normal model for BMI (SOCR demo)?
7. What's the upshot of this hands-on demo?

A Complete Chart of BMI categorization for Adults

Increasing prevalence 1991 to 2001 in Australia
by Catherine Chittleborough ( ~ n=3000 per year)

 

1991
% (95% CI)
2001
% (95% CI)
Underweight (<18.5)
4.2 (3.5 – 5.0)
3.0 (2.4 – 3.8)
Normal (18.5-24.9)
57.9 (56.1 – 59.7)
46.2 (44.3 – 48.2)
Overweight (25.0-29.9)
27.6 (26.0 – 29.3)
33.0 (31.2 – 34.9)
Obese (30.0-34.9)
8.1 (7.1 – 9.1)
12.1 (10.8 – 13.4)
Severely obese (35.0)
2.2 (1.7 – 2.9)
5.7 (4.9 – 6.7)

Adults Women Men
anorexia < 17.5
underweight <19.1 <20.7
Normal Range 19.1-25.8 20.7-26.4
marginally overweight 25.8-27.3 26.4-27.8
overweight 27.3-32.3 27.8-31.1
very overweight or obese >32.3 >31.1
severely obese 35 - 40
morbidly obese 40 - 50
super obese 50 - 60 kg/m2

Calculators designed and provided by CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm)

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