Height Weight Chart – Ideal Weight for Men and Women

Sound health is a prerequisite for happiness. While for adults, it is vital for defining your quality of life, for children, it is essential for proper growth, both physically and mentally.

In other words, an indicative measure of good health in adults is manifest in the height weight chart.

Since childhood, you are accustomed to two adages “Health is wealth” and “Sound mind in a sound body”. Moreover, these are two cardinal truths that amply define what health is all about.

So, merely being free from disease or infirmity does not reflect your health in totality. Above all, your health should project your functional efficiency and define it through the overall condition of your body, mind, and spirit.

Height and Weight chart

The two primary parameters that impact your health – your height and weight are correlated using height and weight charts. It helps to act as a diagnostic tool to enable one to take steps to achieve ideal body weight.

Other major factors that affect weight:

• Age
• Gender
• Height
• Body frame size

Interpretation of the height and weight chart

The height and weight chart is meant to help you evaluate the association between the two components. And therefore, you must correlate the ratio between the two by correctly interpreting your position in the chart. The key takeaway from the chart is that you can clearly determine which category you fall into.

• Healthy weight: It means that you are within the optimal ratio range.
• Underweight: You are below the standard defined in the chart. You must seek professional medical help to find the reason and remedy for it.
• Overweight: Your weight is above the standard for your height. It denotes that you are at risk of several chronic diseases and have to adopt remedial measures for weight loss.

Use of the height and weight chart

When you can interpret the ratio, it truly helps to monitor the following:.

• Weight loss
• Weight gain
• Maintaining ideal weight

Height and Weight Chart for Men and Women

Check your height to weight ratio using our approximate optimum average height to weight ratio chart guide provided below.

The table below shows both Metric and Imperial measurements, i.e. Inches/Centimeters – Pounds/Kilograms:

Source – Disabled-world.com

You can calculate your ideal weight using the below formula:

• Weight in pounds = 5 x BMI + (BMI divided by 5) x (Height in inches minus 60)
• Weight in kilograms = 2.2 x BMI + (3.5 x BMI) x (Height in meters minus 1.5)

Tips to maintain Ideal weight

The efficacy of the height-weight charts is most pronounced in adults as the measurements are standardized as compared to children. So, certainly for adults, it is less prone to variation, which is crucial in the case of growing children, where it can impact the development of the child.

There are many benefits to maintaining ideal body weight. Being either underweight or overweight leads to undesirable health outcomes. Poor nutrition, stress and lifestyle changes lead to deviation from ideal body weight.

1. Adhere to a Healthy Diet

Diet plays a key role in keeping you healthy and fit. A balanced diet offers various health benefits like weight management, good gut health and a strong immune system.

2. Embrace active habits

Keep yourself fit and energetic throughout the day by following a daily routine of physical activity that suits your schedule. The idea is to balance the calorie intake with calories burned and be active.

Read more: Balanced Diet – Foods to Eat and Avoid

3. Adequate rest

Do not forget the spirit of the adage, which defines a healthy and sound mind in going to bed early and rising early. Firstly, this keeps the biological clock in order and secondly, balances hormone secretion in the body.

For instance, stress causes hormonal imbalance in your body and adds extra kilos in your weight. So, enough rest and sound sleep are essential for the body.

4. Reduce stress

Stress can be the sole cause of various underlying conditions like obesity, hypertension, diabetes etc.

In order to shun away stress, you need to follow healthy food habits, active lifestyle, and sleep soundly. In addition to it, you will further feel relaxed if you avaoid smoking, drinking, and excessive intake of caffeine.

Read more: Top 9 Foods That Will Help Reduce Stress Levels

So, natural, wholesome and unprocessed foods  that will pave the way for a healthy lifestyle.

It is better to eat small portions often instead of skipping meals. To understand how you can eat meals and still lose weight check this diet plan for weight loss. 

Height Conversion Table

Impact of being overweight

It is good to try out the BMI calculator once in a while to keep track of your weight. However, relying on BMI alone is not advisable..

As you know, with age, you are bound to lose muscle mass and bone density, and start accumulating more body fat. Factually, when compared to men, women carry greater fat content. One of the biggest flaws of BMI is that it does not differentiate between body fat and muscle mass.

Your BMI might be skewed. So, you need to keep a track of your BMI in conjunction with the following enhances accuracy for your weight management regimen.

Read more: BMI Chart: What is It and How to Calculate BMI?

1. Waist-to-hip-ratio (WHR)

Ideally, your waist circumference should measure less than your hips. WHR more than 0.90 in men and 0.85 in women indicates higher fat deposition around the waist which increases risk of chronic diseases.

2. Waist-to-height-ratio

This ratio is obtained by dividing waist size by height. If your waist circumference is more than half your height that makes you obese in the middle.

3. Body fat percentage

The measure calculates the fat content in your body which is best determined in consultation with your nutritionist and fitness coach.

4. Body shape and waist

Where you store your body fat is decided by your genes. Normally men accumulate fat on their bellies while women on hips, butt or thighs

Now that you know about it, you are in a better position to understand the kind of medical conditions you are likely to invite due to unhealthy weight.

Summary: Studies have proven again and again that being overweight can lead to a number of chronic diseases. So, you need to keep a tab on your weight, in order to stay active and healthy. One way to do so is by calculating your BMI. Though BMI measurements are not always accurate, it gives you a fair idea about your weight. 

Health Consequences of Obesity in Adults

People who have obesity are at constantly increased risk for many diseases and health conditions, including the following:

1. Hypertension

Higher body weight is an indicator of high fatty tissue in your body.rephrase- Many studies have shown that being overweight increases your risk of developing hypertension. Accumulation of fat in your blood vessels increases circulatory resistance and is the primary cause of high BP.

Read more: Hypertension: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment

2. Coronary Heart Ailments

Your fluctuating BP is the root cause that makes you susceptible to coronary heart diseases.

3. Type 2 Diabetes

Obesity is also a risk factor for insulin resistance. Excess body fat contributes to inflammation and may lead to insulin resistance.

Read more: Type 2 Diabetes Diet – A Comprehensive Guide

4. Liver disease

Obesity is closely related to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. (NAFLD).

5. Cancer

The risk of  certain types of cancer may increase due to obesity. The common factors that trigger cancer consequent to obesity are:

• Inflammation of the body.
• High levels of insulin
• Increase in levels of growth hormone

6. Breathlessness

Higher body fat around the chest and abdomen along with lower lung volumes can make those who are obese feel breathless.

Your body movements are impaired, and the thickening of blood vessels will leave you gasping often. In other words, your daily activity is hindered as you are inclined to be breathless. 

Other diseases and health conditions:

• High LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, or high levels of triglycerides (dyslipidemia)
• Stroke
• Gallbladder disease
• Osteoarthritis (a breakdown of cartilage within a joint)
• Sleep apnea and breathing problems
• Chronic inflammation and increased oxidative stress
• Low quality of life
• Mental illness such as clinical depression, anxiety
• Body pain and difficulty with physical functioning

HealthifyMe Note

The height and weight chart is a useful indicator of overall health but as we have seen it has shortcomings as well. One cannot rely on BMI alone to assess health.

The best approach is to look at other parameters such as waist hip ratio, waist to height ratio and body fat percentage and not rely on BMI alone. Once you have done the right measurements, you can work with a fitness coach and nutritionist to help you make lifestyle changes, increase physical activity and improve your nutrition.

Conclusion

In conclusion, relying entirely on the height and weight chart to determine what your ideal weight is not recommended.

However, you have not added up firstly your age, secondly other factors like bone, muscle, and fat content in your body composition.

Once you have a complete analysis, a fitness coach or a diet expert can help you take the next steps for optimizing your health.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Medically Reviewed by – Dr. Poonam Sharma.