What Does the BMI Range Indicate?
- If you have an 18.5 BMI, you are underweight. It indicates a high risk of malnutrition. People within this BMI range must put on weight to avoid further health complications.
- A BMI value between 18.5 to 24.9 indicates that you’re in the healthy weight range. For most adults, it is the ideal BMI.
- A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is the overweight range. To put it simply, the higher spectrum of the range indicates nearing obesity.
- If your BMI is 30 or more than 30, it shows that you’re in the obese range. It makes you more prone to multiple health problems like heart disease, blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.
| BMI Range | Classification | Risk of poor health |
| less than 18.5 | Underweight | High |
| 18.5–24.9 | Normal | Low |
| 25.0–29.9 | Overweight | Low to moderate |
| 30.0–34.9 | Obese class 1 | Moderately (obese) high |
| 35.0–39.9 | Obese class 2 | Severely (obese) very high |
| 40 or greater | Obese class 3 | Extremely (obese) high |
BMI Chart
Research indicates that some countries have accepted this BMI scale to illustrate the size and stature of their public in a better way. For example, Asian women and men are at an increased risk of heart disease with a lower BMI, correlated with non-Asians.
Though this can provide the healthcare professional with an image of a person’s health based on their weight, it does not consider other factors such as sex, age, race, fat mass, bone density, genetics, and muscle mass.
BMI: Is it an Accurate Indicator for Your Health?
Despite the problem that BMI does not accurately specify whether a person is healthy, most research shows that a person’s risk of chronic disease and premature death rises with a BMI less than 18.5 (underweight) or 30.0 or greater (obese).
A 2017 study of 103,218 deaths established that the people. Who had a BMI of 30.0 or greater (obese) had a 1.5–2.7 times risk of death after a thirty-year follow-up. Another study of 16,868 people indicated that those in the obese BMI category had a 20% increased risk of death from all reasons and heart disease, correlated with those in the normal BMI category.
Other research has shown that a BMI greater than thirty increases the risk of chronic health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, breathing difficulties, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and mobility issues. Furthermore, a study shows a 5-10% reduction in a person’s BMI correlates with decreased rates of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.
Due to most studies showing a heightened chronic disease risk among people with obesity, many health specialists can use BMI as a common factor of a person’s risk. Still, it should not be the only tool used for diagnosis.