The majority of adults in the UK are overweight or obese according to national health surveys, yet research suggests we are a country in denial about our weight.
Use this calculator to find out your own body mass index (BMI) and see how you compare with the rest of the nation. You will also get tips from health experts and useful links to information on how to improve your health
How the calculator works
Comparative data for this calculator comes from the most recent national health surveys from the four constituent nations of the UK (see data sources below).
Your BMI
We calculate BMI using the standard formula of a person's mass in kg divided by the square of their height in metres (kg/m2) and display it to one decimal place.
Where a user's data is entered in imperial units, we first convert to metric and then carry out the BMI calculation.
The BMI result is assigned to a standard category:
Less than 18.5 - underweight
18.5 to 24.9 - healthy weight
25 to 29.9 - overweight
30 to 39.9 - obese
40 and over - very obese (also known as morbidly obese)
Experts say that for people of an Asian descent, 18.5 to 23 is a healthy BMI. We highlight this fact in a later section.
Use this calculator to find out your own body mass index (BMI) and see how you compare with the rest of the nation. You will also get tips from health experts and useful links to information on how to improve your health
How the calculator works
Comparative data for this calculator comes from the most recent national health surveys from the four constituent nations of the UK (see data sources below).
Your BMI
We calculate BMI using the standard formula of a person's mass in kg divided by the square of their height in metres (kg/m2) and display it to one decimal place.
Where a user's data is entered in imperial units, we first convert to metric and then carry out the BMI calculation.
The BMI result is assigned to a standard category:
Less than 18.5 - underweight
18.5 to 24.9 - healthy weight
25 to 29.9 - overweight
30 to 39.9 - obese
40 and over - very obese (also known as morbidly obese)
Experts say that for people of an Asian descent, 18.5 to 23 is a healthy BMI. We highlight this fact in a later section.
