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Body mass index

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The body mass index (BMI), or Quetelet index, is a controversial statistical measurement which compares a person's weight and height. Though it does not actually measure the percentage of body fat, it may be a useful tool to estimate a healthy body weight based on how tall a person is. Due to its ease of measurement and calculation, it is the most widely used diagnostic tool to identify weight problem within a population including: underweight, overweight and obesity. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing "social physics". Body mass index is defined as the individual's body weight divided by the square of his or her height. The formulae universally used in medicine produce a unit of measure of kg/m2. BMI can also be determined using a BMI chart, which displays BMI as a function of weight (horizontal axis) and height (vertical axis) using contour lines for different values of BMI or colours for different BMI categories.

For more information about Body mass index, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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News tagged with body mass index

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BMI and waist circumference

Medicine & Health / Health

created 15 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference are well known risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD), but a new study reported in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation today now conclu ...


Overweight children may develop back pain and spinal abnormalities

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Being overweight as a child could lead to early degeneration in the spine, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).


Depressed women can lose weight as successfully as others do

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Women with major depression were no less likely than were women without it to have successful results with a weight loss program, according to an article in the Winter 2009 Behavioral Medicine. Group Health Research Instit ...


Nevada professor devises new childhood obesity screening tools

Nevada professor devises new childhood obesity screening tools

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A University of Nevada, Reno professor who thinks the present weight management charts and screening tools for children are too difficult to understand and use has devised new, simpler charts that pediatricians ...


Are manometric findings different between the patients with erosive and nonerosive disease?

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created 10 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is defined as the pathological retrograde movement of gastric contents into the esophagus. Various esophageal motility disturbances which may be important in reflux are observed in patients ...


People living in poorer neighborhoods at increased risk for death, worse health risks

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created 8 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Regardless of an individual's dietary and lifestyle risk factors, living in a poorer or more socioeconomically deprived neighborhood may increase a person's risk for death, according to data presented at the American Association ...