Are you Overweight?

How do you tell if you are overweight?

You are overweight if you have a high body fat percentage. Scientists can estimate your percentage of body fat by weighing you under water (since fat is less dense than muscle and bone) or by shooting you with X-rays (since fat, muscle, and bone absorb X-rays differently).50 These methods aren’t too practical for everyday use!
The most practical good estimate of being overweight is the Body Mass Index or BMI. The actual formula for BMI is complicated! It is:

BMI=[weight (kg)]/[height(meters)]2

Don’t worry! You can figure out your BMI by using the table on the following page. Simply look for your height (in feet and inches), follow it over to your weight (in pounds), and then follow it up to the BMI scores at the top of the table on the following page.