Ideal Weight Calculator

What This Range Shows

There is no single ideal weight for a height. This calculator shows a healthy range instead: the weights that give a body mass index, or BMI, from 18.5 to 22.9 at your height. On the cut-offs used for Indian adults, that is the usual band.

Because it uses height alone, the range is the same for men and women of the same height.

Why the Indian Cut-Offs Are Used

The general WHO band for BMI runs up to 24.9. Later research found that many people of South Asian origin can develop conditions such as type 2 diabetes at a lower BMI, often because more of their body fat is carried around the middle. A WHO expert group looked at this for Asian populations in 2004, and a consensus guideline for India in 2009 set lower action points. This calculator follows those lower points, so its range stops at 22.9.

The Reference Formula

You will also see a figure from the Devine formula. It starts at 50 kg for men or 45.5 kg for women at 5 feet tall, and adds 2.3 kg for each inch above that. It dates from the 1970s, and was first used to work out doses of medicine, not to set goals for health. It is shown here because many people have come across it. Please treat it as a reference, and rely on the range first. It is left out below 152 cm, because it was not designed for shorter heights.

Using Your Result Well

A target weight can be useful, but it is not the only measure of progress. Better blood reports, more energy, stronger muscles, and clothes that fit differently can all matter more. Muscle also weighs more than the same volume of fat, so people who train may sit above this range and be perfectly healthy.

Older adults, people with a long-term condition, and anyone with a history of disordered eating may need a different goal altogether. If you would like to set a goal that suits your own health, a nutritionist can work it out with you.