People who are overweight or obese have higher rates of death and illness than people of healthy weight, both overall and from a range of specific conditions. These include cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnoea, osteoarthritis, psychological problems and reproductive problems for women.
Body mass index (BMI)
You can quickly check whether your weight is in a healthy range by calculating your Body Mass Index (BMI).
Your BMI is your body weight in kilograms, divided by the square of your height in meters.
For example, if you weight 75kg and you are 175cm tall (1.75m), your BMI = 75 / (1.75 x 1.75) = 24.5.
Rate your BMI
Your BMI will fall into one of four categories:
| BMI (kg/m2) |
Classification |
| Less than 18.5 |
Underweight |
| 18.5 to less than 25 |
Normal weight range |
| 25 to less than 30 |
Overweight |
| 30 or more |
Obese |
Source: World Health Organisation (WHO) 2000. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO consultation. WHO technical report series 894. Geneva:WHO.
Limitations of BMI
BMI does not necessarily reflect body fat distribution or describe the same degree of fatness in different population groups.
Waist circumference
An alternative way to assess your risk of developing obesity-related chronic diseases is to measure your waist circumference. A higher waist measurement is associated with an increased risk of chronic disease.
|
Increased risk |
Substantially increased risk |
| Men |
94 cm |
102 cm |
| Women |
80 cm |
88 cm |
Source: WHO 2000. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO consultation. WHO technical report series 894. Geneva:WHO; National Health and Medical Research Council, Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, 2003.
For information on how to correctly measure your waist, visit the How to measure yourself page on the Australian Government’s Measure Up website.
Limitations of waist circumference measurement
As height and body composition are continually changing for children and adolescents, a separate classification of overweight and obesity for children is recommended based on age and sex.