Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of whether you're a healthy weight for your height.
At your NHS Health Check, your height and weight will be measured by a health professional. These measurements will be used to calculate your BMI.
BMI is easy to calculate:
- weight in kilograms
- divided by
- height in metres x height in metres
For example, say your height is 1.87m (187cm). And your weight is 77kg. Your BMI would be:
- 77
- divided by
- 1.87 x 1.87
This gives a BMI of 22.01.
Why BMI matters
BMI is the best way to assess whether you're a healthy weight. This matters because your weight is closely linked to your long-term health.
People with an overweight BMI are at greater risk of a range of serious health conditions, including heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.
Your BMI assessment
At the NHS Health Check, you and your GP or other health professional may discuss your BMI if they feel that this is appropriate.
If your BMI reveals that you're likely to be underweight or overweight, you’ll be offered advice, support and, if necessary, treatment that will help you to achieve a healthy weight.
There's lots of information and advice on NHS Choices that can help you. The interactive BMI healthy weight calculator is a great place to start:
You can use the calculator to keep track of your BMI as your weight changes. It will also direct you to relevant information on lifestyle, diet and physical activity, which can make a real difference as you try to achieve a healthy weight.
You can read more in Achieve a healthy weight.
