Calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) - the WHO standard for assessing healthy weight range by height.
BMI < 18.5
May indicate malnutrition, eating disorders or underlying illness. Consider consulting a doctor.
BMI 18.5 – 24.9
Associated with the lowest health risks. Maintain through balanced diet and regular activity.
BMI 25 – 29.9
Increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Weight loss recommended.
BMI ≥ 30
High health risk. Consult a healthcare professional for a personalised weight-management plan.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a simple screening index calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres (kg/m2). Developed by Belgian statistician Adolphe Quetelet in the 1830s, it was formally adopted by the WHO as a global obesity classification tool in the 1990s. The standard WHO categories are: Underweight (below 18.5), Normal (18.5-24.9), Overweight (25-29.9), and Obese (30+). This calculator supports both metric and imperial inputs and shows your healthy weight range for your height.
A landmark 2004 WHO expert consultation recommended lower BMI cutoff points for Asian populations. For South Asians, including Indians, overweight begins at 23 kg/m2 and obesity at 27.5 kg/m2, because Indians carry proportionally more abdominal fat at lower BMIs than Caucasians, raising cardiometabolic risk at seemingly normal weights. The ICMR and the Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India (RSSDI) use these revised cutoffs in clinical guidelines. This is especially relevant given that India had an estimated 77 million people with diabetes in 2019 - second only to China globally - with obesity being a leading driver.