Body Mass Index

Patient A: weight 70 kg, height 168 cm.
Patient B: Weight 120 kg, height 174 cm


Question

1) Demonstrate how do you take the body weight and height for the patient
2) Calculate the BMI of the patient and comment on the finding.



Answer:


Body Mass Index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify underweight, overweight and obesity in adults. It is defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres (kg/m2)



Taking the weight

- Make sure that the weighting scale is set to zero.
- Remove all the accessories from body. The best is to naked but for patient’s modesty, wear a shirt and pants.
- Ask the patient to stand on the weighting scale in normal anatomical position.
- take the reading with one decimal point.


Taking the height.

- Ask patient to stand upright and still
- measure the height in inch first and look at the other side of the measuring tape which is in cm. this is to reduce error.
- convert the reading to meter.


BMI classification.


18.5 or less Underweight
18.5 to 24.99 Normal Weight
25 to 29.99 Overweight
30 to 34.99 Obesity (Class 1)
35 to 39.99 Obesity (Class 2)
40 or greater Morbid Obesity