Calculate Your Body Mass Index (BMI)
Use our free BMI calculator to find out whether you may be eligible for weight loss surgery in Turkey.
What Is BMI?
BMI is a simple and quick measurement that shows whether your weight is within a healthy range for your height.
BMI cannot diagnose health risks on its own, but it helps assess them. If your BMI is high, you may be overweight or obese, and this can affect your risk of developing certain health conditions.
BMI is also one of the main criteria used to assess eligibility for weight loss injections and weight loss surgery.
What Does Your BMI Mean?
BMI classifies adult body weight into four ranges:
- BMI below 18.5: Underweight
- BMI 18.5 to 24.9: Healthy weight
- BMI 25 to 29.9: Overweight
- BMI 30 or above: Obese
It is important to understand that BMI can vary with age, sex, ethnicity and muscle mass.
What Are the Limitations of BMI?
BMI is a useful tool for assessing body weight, but it has some limitations. It only uses your height and weight. It does not measure body fat, muscle mass or where fat is distributed.
Two people with the same BMI can have different levels of body fat and muscle, so their health risks can also differ. Someone with high muscle mass may appear overweight despite having low body fat.
Older people tend to have less muscle, so they may appear to be in a healthy range despite carrying more body fat. Women can also have more body fat than men at the same BMI.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to the most common questions about Body Mass Index.
How is BMI calculated?
BMI is calculated by dividing an adult’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres.
For example, if you weigh 70 kg and are 1.75 m tall, your BMI is calculated as follows:
- 1.75 m x 1.75 m = 3.06
- 70 kg / 3.06 = 22.87
In this case, your BMI is 22.87, which shows that your weight is within the healthy range.
What is a healthy BMI?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered the healthy weight range for adults.
How accurate is BMI?
BMI is a simple tool that shows whether your weight is within a healthy range for your height. It is only one measure of your health. It cannot be used as a diagnostic tool on its own, because it cannot tell the difference between muscle and fat. This means you can be classified as overweight or obese even if you have high muscle mass and low body fat.
Why is BMI important?
BMI does not measure body fat directly, but it helps identify health risks by assessing the relationship between your height and weight.
A high BMI can increase your risk of health conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. A low BMI can also lead to health problems such as anaemia, osteoporosis and a weakened immune system.
Checking your BMI regularly and keeping it within a healthy range can help you stay on top of your general health.
What are the BMI criteria for weight loss surgery in Turkey?
A BMI of 30 or above is required for gastric sleeve surgery, and 35 or above for gastric bypass surgery. If you have type 2 diabetes that is difficult to control, a BMI of 30 or above may also make you eligible for a bypass.
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