Factors Affecting Your Ideal Body Weight

Contrary to popular belief, your ideal weight is dominated by a host of other factors aside from weight and height. It is very important to know very well all the other factors before having an  accurate estimate of your ideal body weight. A complete physical checkup with a doctor may also be in order.

Before more recent studies, the more generalized body mass index or BMI, which correlates the height and weight of the body, is used to determine one’s ideal weight. This very simplistic formula is still useful, but with the incorporation of other equally vital factors for one’s ideal body weight. 

Contemporary studies show that your ideal body weight is influenced by not just the height and weight which most traditional ideal body weight calculators use. One of the other parameters which help you determine your ideal weight is also in your body frame. Most people recommend the use of the “wrist test” to be able to check if you belong to the small, medium or large body frame categories. Using the index finger and thumb, the wrist is encircled by the hand. If the wrist and index finger overlap, one is considered of small frame. If the wrist and index finger do not meet and did not complete the entire circumference of the wrist, one is considered to be of large frame. Those in the middle or medium body frame range are those whose index finger and thumb do not overlap but adequately covers the wrist’s circumference.

Genetics and gender also play a major role in your ideal body weight. Men generally have higher weight requirements as opposed to their female counterparts. Allowances are also given to bone density, fat percentage in the body and level or intensity of daily activity. While calculating the ideal weight remotely may seem harmless, it must also be verified by a trusted health expert before being accepted as factual and accurate.