Think about pizza with dripping hot cheese, deep-fried chicken wings, or a scrumptious chocolate chip cookie! Your mouth is already watering, isn’t it? And these were just words. The world today is filled with visually stimulating adverts that glamourize fast food.
While you are constantly reminded of the fantastic taste of junk food, the commercials never highlight how unhealthy and dangerous it is to consume it regularly. Your rushed schedule adds to this, and you end up eating unhealthy food all the time.
The reason most of us are leaning towards obesity and heart diseases is that we let ourselves become subjects to the fast-food mindset. This can only be tackled by carefully monitoring our body weight and taking action when needed. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by calculating your BMI.
What is BMI?
Body mass index or BMI is the most famous method of diagnosing the risk of obesity in people. It calculates the ratio between a person’s weight and height. While BMI is not an absolute measure of excess body fat, it estimates the weight-height relationship and provides a more appropriate action than bodyweight alone.
Many studies prove that BMI is directly connected with the risk of several diseases and premature deaths. As BMI increases, the risk for many ailments, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, osteoarthritis, and sleep apnea, also increases.
BMI is calculated using the formula: BMI = mass/height²
Best Tools to Use to Calculate BMI
Computing your BMI manually seems like a tedious task. The BMI formula feels tricky when the figures you have to enter may also have decimals.
Thankfully, several online sites can help you calculate your BMI without having to visit a fitness institution or medical official. Here is a list of the best tools available for BMI estimation.
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BMI Calculator by National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, US
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the US Department of Health & Human Services lets you use their BMI Calculator for free.
All you have to do is enter your height and weight to find out your BMI. You can enter your details in both metric and standard units of measurement based on your knowledge and comfort. You can switch to the Spanish language as well.
The calculator specifies standard BMI values for underweight, normal weight, and overweight individuals on the right side. This lets you know where you stand on the fitness scale. You will also find BMI Tables, limitations of BMI, recipes for healthy food alternatives, and other helpful tips on the right-hand side of the calculator.
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BMI and Waist Circumference Calculator
This tool is more effective than its counterparts in calculating your physical health. Along with height and weight, it takes your age, gender, and waist circumference into account.
BMI provides an approximation of body fat for most groups, but it has limitations. For instance, BMI may underestimate body fat for people with low muscle mass or those who have a chronic disease. It can also overestimate body mass for people who are muscular and have high bone density.
Therefore, it’s crucial to consider waist size in addition to BMI. Health problems increase with increasing waist size.
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BMI Calculator by Calculator.Net
This calculator is similar to other BMI calculators but has a few special features that make it great. It gives you three options to enter units, US, metric, and others.
In the ‘other’ option, you can convert lesser-used units into units the calculator accepts. This saves you from the hassle of converting units yourself.
If you scroll down on this site, you will find a lot of literature about BMI and healthy body mass, including comprehensive charts. Colorful charts and informative tables are available for adults, children, and teens.
Further down the site, you will see a method to formulate P.I or Ponderal Index. It is another measure of fitness that estimates an individual’s leanness and fatness.
Conclusion
It is vital to take care of yourself. While you get lured by the glorification of unhealthy habits, it is your responsibility to fight against this culture and look after your health.
The first step to attaining fitness is to know where your shortcomings are and which areas need work. By monitoring your BMI, you can strive to increase and decrease its value through mindful eating and a little exercise.