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MasterMath

Healthy Weight for Height Calculator

The weight range that matches a healthy BMI for your height, and where yours sits inside it. It is the BMI formula solved the other way round.

Healthy weight for your height

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Healthy weight for your height—
Your current BMI—
Where you stand—
Distance from the range—
Middle of the range—
Width of the range—

How this was worked out

    Indicative result. BMI is a screening signal, not a diagnosis. It ignores body composition and where fat is distributed, which is what actually matters.

    The formula

    weight = BMI × height², with BMI between 18.5 and 24.9

    Where it comes from

    The range comes from solving the BMI formula for weight at the two limits the WHO treats as normal: 18.5 at the bottom and 24.9 at the top. Because BMI divides by height squared, the range widens quickly with height: at 1.60 m it is about 14 kilos of room and at 1.90 m nearly 20. That does not mean the standard is looser for tall people, only that the same BMI difference is more kilograms.

    How to work it out by hand

    1. Convert your height to metres and square it
    2. Multiply by 18.5 for the bottom of the range
    3. Multiply by 24.9 for the top
    4. Compare your weight with those two numbers

    What is worth knowing

    BMI does not tell fat from muscle, so it puts a heavily muscled person outside the range with nothing to correct, and leaves an older person with little lean mass inside it when perhaps it should not. It also ignores where the fat sits, which is what actually tracks with risk: waist circumference says more about that than total weight. It is a population screen, useful as a first signal and poor as an individual diagnosis.

    Frequently asked questions

    Why is the range so wide?

    Because it runs from a BMI of 18.5 to one of 24.9, and multiplying by height squared turns that into a fair number of kilos. The taller you are, the wider it gets.

    I am outside the range and I train — should I worry?

    With a lot of muscle mass, BMI misclassifies by definition. Look at body fat percentage or waist circumference before drawing conclusions.

    Does it work for children?

    No. In under-eighteens BMI is read against age and sex percentiles, not these two fixed limits.

    Is it the same as ideal weight?

    No. Ideal weight comes from formulas such as Devine or Robinson and gives one number; this is a whole range of equally valid weights.

    What if I am right on the limit?

    The limits are round conventions. A BMI of 24.8 and one of 25.1 do not describe two different situations.