Sources & Methodology

All cutoffs and formulas on this site are taken from published, peer-reviewed sources or official health-authority guidelines.

• WHO BMI classification

  World Health Organization. Obesity and overweight — fact sheet.

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• WHO Asian-Pacific cutoffs

  WHO Expert Consultation. Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies. The Lancet 2004; 363:157–163.

• Health Promotion Board Singapore

  Singapore HPB. Revised body mass index cut-off points for adult Singaporeans (2005).

• Working Group on Obesity in China

  Zhou BF. Predictive values of body mass index and waist circumference for risk factors of certain related diseases in Chinese adults. Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 2002; 15:83–96.

• NHS UK BMI guidance

  National Health Service (UK). BMI healthy weight calculator.

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• NIH / CDC adult BMI

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Adult BMI.

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• Waist-to-Height Ratio

  Ashwell M, Hsieh SD. Six reasons why the waist-to-height ratio is a rapid and effective global indicator for health risks. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition 2005; 56(5):303–307.

• FFMI

  Kouri EM, Pope HG Jr, Katz DL, Oliva P. Fat-free mass index in users and nonusers of anabolic-androgenic steroids. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine 1995; 5:223–228.

• Body Adiposity Index

  Bergman RN, Stefanovski D, Buchanan TA, Sumner AE, Reynolds JC, Sebring NG, Xiang AH, Watanabe RM. A better index of body adiposity. Obesity 2011; 19(5):1083–1089.

• Age-adjusted BMI

  Heo M, Faith MS, Pietrobelli A, Heymsfield SB. Percentage of body fat cutoffs by sex, age, and race-ethnicity in the US adult population from NHANES 1999-2004. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2012; 95:594–602.

• BMI misclassification

  Tomiyama AJ, Hunger JM, Nguyen-Cuu J, Wells C. Misclassification of cardiometabolic health when using body-mass index categories in NHANES 2005-2012. International Journal of Obesity 2016; 40:883–886.

• Obesity paradox

  Carbone S, Lavie CJ, Arena R. Obesity and Heart Failure: Focus on the Obesity Paradox. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases 2017; 60:14–21.

• BMI history

  Eknoyan G. Adolphe Quetelet (1796–1874) — the average man and indices of obesity. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 2008; 23:47–51.

• Body-weight fluctuation

  Hall KD, Sacks G, Chandramohan D, et al. Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on bodyweight. The Lancet 2011; 378:826–837.