BMI calculator
BMI calculator with Asian and Indian cut-offs, plus waist-to-height
Enter your height and weight to see your BMI against both the WHO categories and the lower Asian and Indian cut-offs. Add your waist to see your waist-to-height ratio: try to keep your waist to less than half your height.
Check your BMI
For adults aged 18 and over. Not for pregnancy.
Example: 170 cm, 70 kg, waist 85 cm
BMI
24.2
WHO category
Healthy weight
Asian and Indian cut-offs
Overweight (increased risk)
Waist-to-height ratio
0.50 · Increased central adiposity
BMI categories: WHO and Asian cut-offs
BMI is weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. The World Health Organization’s categories are used worldwide. For Asian populations, a WHO expert consultation in 2004 identified lower points for public health action, and India’s 2024 dietary guidelines from ICMR-NIN use them: people of South Asian background tend to carry more body fat, and more health risk, at the same BMI.
| Category | WHO (international) | Asian and Indian (WHO 2004; ICMR-NIN 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Underweight | Below 18.5 | Below 18.5 |
| Healthy weight | 18.5 to 24.9 | 18.5 to 22.9 |
| Overweight | 25 to 29.9 | 23 to 27.4 (increased risk) |
| Obesity | 30 or more (classes 1–3 from 30, 35 and 40) | 27.5 or more (high risk) |
Indian sources don’t all agree on obesity. ICMR-NIN 2024, the WHO action points and NICE use 27.5, while an earlier 2009 Indian consensus used 25, so an adult with a BMI of 26 can be called overweight by one and obese by another. Both agree that risk starts to rise from about 23.
Waist-to-height ratio: the simplest belly-fat check
BMI can’t tell where fat sits. Fat around the middle carries more health risk, and the waist-to-height ratio captures it with one tape measure. NICE, the UK’s health guidance body, recommends using it alongside BMI for adults with a BMI under 35, and advises keeping your waist to less than half your height.
| Waist-to-height ratio | NICE classification |
|---|---|
| 0.40 to 0.49 | Healthy central adiposity: no increased health risks |
| 0.50 to 0.59 | Increased central adiposity: increased health risks |
| 0.60 or more | High central adiposity: further increased health risks |
To measure your waist the NICE way, find the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hips, and wrap the tape midway between them, just above the belly button, after a normal breath out. Use the same unit for waist and height: a 96.5 cm waist and a 170 cm height give 0.57. Note that this isn’t the same spot as the US Navy body fat method uses.
What BMI can’t tell you
- Muscle. Muscular people can have a high BMI with little fat. NICE asks for caution here and in adults aged 65 and over.
- Where fat sits. A healthy BMI can still come with a large waist, which is why the waist-to-height ratio helps.
- Your health on its own. A 2025 Lancet commission recommends BMI only “for screening purposes, rather than as an individual measure of health”, with excess fat confirmed by a waist measure or a direct body fat measurement.
For an estimate of body fat from a tape measure, use the body fat calculator. If your result worries you, or you’re losing or gaining weight without trying, talk to a doctor.
BMI and waist in Bodyvault
Bodyvault tracks your weight trend, measurements and progress photos over time, and its coach points out a waist-to-height ratio of 0.5 or more. Calorie and protein targets come from your own numbers; to start, try the calorie deficit calculator and the protein calculator.
Privacy
The calculation runs in this page. Nothing you type is sent to a server, saved in your browser or put into the address bar; reloading the page restores the example. The site’s usual behaviour is in the privacy policy.
Questions
What is a healthy BMI for Indians?
India’s 2024 dietary guidelines (ICMR-NIN) give 18.5 to 23 as healthy for Asians, with 23 to 27.5 overweight and above 27.5 obesity. The WHO international range is 18.5 to 24.9.
Why are Asian BMI cut-offs lower?
People of Asian and South Asian background tend to have more body fat at the same BMI, which leaves them at higher risk of chronic diseases. A WHO consultation in 2004 identified 23 and 27.5 as action points for Asian populations.
What is a good waist-to-height ratio?
Under 0.5: keep your waist to less than half your height. NICE classes 0.5 to 0.59 as increased and 0.6 or more as high central adiposity, for adults with a BMI under 35.
Is BMI accurate?
It’s a quick screening measure, not a diagnosis. It can mislabel muscular people and older adults, and it says nothing about where fat sits. Pair it with your waist-to-height ratio.
Is my data saved?
No. The calculation runs in the page and nothing is sent anywhere.
Sources
- World Health Organization (2000). Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. WHO Technical Report Series 894.
- World Health Organization. Obesity and overweight: fact sheet.
- WHO Expert Consultation (2004). Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies. Lancet 363(9403):157–163.
- Tham KW et al. (2023). Obesity in South and Southeast Asia: a new consensus on care and management. Obes Rev 24(2):e13520.
- ICMR-NIN (2024). Dietary Guidelines for Indians, revised edition, guideline 9.
- Misra A et al. (2009). Consensus statement for diagnosis of obesity, abdominal obesity and the metabolic syndrome for Asian Indians and recommendations for physical activity, medical and surgical management. J Assoc Physicians India 57:163–170.
- Misra A et al. (2025). Revised definition of obesity in Asian Indians living in India. Diabetes Metab Syndr 19(1):102989.
- NICE (2025, updated 2026). Overweight and obesity management, NG246: identifying and assessing overweight, obesity and central adiposity.
- Ashwell M, Gunn P, Gibson S (2012). Waist-to-height ratio is a better screening tool than waist circumference and BMI for adult cardiometabolic risk factors: systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev 13(3):275–286.
- Browning LM, Hsieh SD, Ashwell M (2010). A systematic review of waist-to-height ratio as a screening tool for the prediction of cardiovascular disease and diabetes: 0.5 could be a suitable global boundary value. Nutr Res Rev 23(2):247–269.
- Rubino F et al. (2025). Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 13(3):221–262.