BMI Chart for Women

Modern women are figure conscious women. They continuously think about calories and weight loss diets. Women who are fitness conscious are in search of new ways to lose weight fast. Unfortunately, women suffer more from hormonal imbalance than men; because a woman's body experiences several changes during puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, breast-feeding and menopause. Being emotional, women are more likely to suffer from stress induced hormonal imbalance. Women usually gain weight fast due to low physical activity after childbirth or after menopause. Calculating BMI is the easiest way to know whether your weight is within the normal range for your height. Before taking a look at the BMI chart for women, let us take a look at what is BMI and how to calculate BMI.

What is BMI

BMI is the abbreviation for body mass index. BMI is the height to weight ratio which helps you know whether you are overweight or underweight or at normal weight, with respect to your height. Calculating BMI is very easy, here is the formula:

• As per SI Units: BMI (in kg/m²) = mass (in kg)/(height in meters)²
• Imperial Units 1: BMI = mass (lb) × 703/(height (in))²
• Imperial Units 2: BMI = mass (lb) × 4.88/(height (ft))²

Thus, BMI is an important parameter that helps you know whether your height and weight are proportionate. The calculation is very simple. If you know your weight in kilograms and height in meters, or if you measure your height in inches and weight in pounds then, with the help of the above formula, you can easily find out your BMI. If the question 'am I overweight for my height' is bothering you, then you should check your BMI and find the answer to the question. If you want to avoid calculations, you may use the instant body mass index calculator where you can just fill in your height and weight and can get your BMI within fraction of seconds. After calculating your BMI, you may refer to the following BMI chart.

BMI Chart

Let me first clear the point that the BMI chart for Women is applicable to men as well. Gender does not play any role in BMI calculation. So the chart is the same for both men and women.

BMI	Interpretation
BMI 18.5 to 25	Normal or optimal weight
BMI > 25	Overweight
BMI < 18.5	Underweight
BMI < 17.5	Extremely underweight
BMI = 30 or BMI > 30	Obese
BMI = 40 or BMI > 40	Morbid obesity

Some advanced BMI calculators provide information on waist-hip ratio, percentage of fat in the body, etc. Body composition depends on genetic factors, overall health, age, sex, physical activity, etc. The ideal weight for a small framed woman will be different from the ideal weight for a medium or large framed woman of same age. Even if you belong to the group of normal weight women, you should also take into consideration distribution of fat in your body. To have perfect curves at perfect places, you need to follow a balanced diet and you need to perform exercises regularly. You may refer to body measurement chart for women to know more about waist to hip ratio, ideal weight for young girls and elderly women of the same height, etc., because BMI calculation does not take into consideration all these aspects.

Increased obesity in all parts of the world has resulted in decreased productivity. Not only adults but youngsters are also suffering from diabetes, heart diseases, arthritis, hypertension and other obesity-related chronic diseases. Increased medical cost is another issue of concern. To stay away from these problems, you can refer to the BMI chart from time to time and may try to control your weight with the help of diet and exercises.

According to the BMI chart, women having BMI between 18.5 to 25 are said to have normal weight. Many women think that they don't need to follow diet as they belong to the group of normal-weight women and they consider themselves as healthy. BMI chart for women would help them know whether they are near the upper limit for being overweight or near the lower limit for being underweight. Women are more conscious about their looks and often fall prey to fad diets ending up with health problems. 'Staying healthy' is more important than 'looking sexy'.