Micah Stanley
For a long time, the BMI was considered the benchmark for ideal weight. But doctors today use a completely different formula to determine the ideal body weight.
Anyone who is overweight – and according to statistics that is more than every second adult in Germany – also has an increased risk of diseases such as diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. From a health point of view, it makes sense to reduce weight and strive for your ideal weight. But the answer to how this is calculated has changed several times in recent years.
How much should I weigh? BMI not meaningful
For a long time, the ideal weight was calculated using the body mass index (BMI). Body weight (in kilograms) is divided by height in meters squared. A man with a value of more than 25 or a woman with a value of more than 24 is considered overweight.
But doctors had doubts about the informative value of the BMI: For example, it does not take into account that athletes are allowed to weigh more kilos than non-athletes because their muscle mass weighs more. It is therefore not suitable for determining the individual risk of heart attack and stroke.
New formula for ideal weight: waist-to-hip ratio
The waist-to-hip ratio (THV), on the other hand, is much more helpful in determining your ideal weight. The waist is measured at the level of the navel and the hips are measured at the thickest point. The waist circumference is then divided by the hip circumference. The ideal weight for men is a value of up to 1, and for women a value of up to 0.85.
If the values are significantly higher, there is a risk of health consequences – because these indicate that the fat is mainly stored in the free abdominal cavity. This so-called visceral fat is involved in the production of pro-inflammatory signal substances and thus promotes the development of diseases.
