A Healthy Weight, By The Numbers

The body mass index, or BMI, calculates a healthy weight range based on your height. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a Calculator you can use to determine your BMI. The resulting number shows if your weight is considered healthy, overweight, or obese.

Since adults have stopped growing, the only way to bring down a high number is to lose weight. Eating less and exercising more will get you closer to a healthy BMI.

Physically active people, like professional athletes, can have a high BMI and still be considered healthy. So the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says to look at other factors which can determine the likelihood of developing obesity-related diseases. Those factors include waist circumference, high blood pressure and physical inactivity.

Overweight and obese individuals are at increased risk for many diseases and health conditions, including hypertension, high LDL cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, sleep apnea and respiratory problems.

So if your body mass index is high, make it a goal to reduce it to a healthy number.