Journal of Childhood Obesity Open Access

Body Mass Index

Body mass Index (BMI), or Quetelet index, is a quality got from the mass (weight) and height of a person. The BMI is characterized as the body mass separated by the square of the body tallness, and is generally communicated in units of kg/m2, coming about because of weight in kilograms and stature in meters.

The body mass index (BMI) or Quetelet index, is a value derived from the mass (weight) and height of an individual. The BMI is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height, and is universally expressed in units of kg/m2, resulting from mass in kilograms and height in metres. The BMI is an attempt to quantify the amount of tissue mass (muscle, fat, and bone) in an individual, and then categorize that person as underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese based on that value. However, there is some debate about where on the BMI scale the dividing lines between categories should be placed. The modern term "body mass index" (BMI) for the ratio of human body weight to squared height owes its popularity to a paper published in the July 1972 edition of the Journal of Chronic Diseases by Ancel Keys. This found the BMI to be the best proxy for body fat percentage among ratios of human body weight and height.