Body Mass Weight Vs Height Standards
It is not new to everyone that the human body needs nutrients that can be taken from food sources.
Nutrients can either be micro or macronutrients.
Micronutrients are nutrients that the body need in smaller amounts such as vitamins and minerals.
Macronutrients are nutrients that the body needs in large amounts such as carbohydrates, fats, and protein.
The role of nutrients in the body is to supply it with energy, and give the body its shape.
Some people, however, eat too much and do so little, which creates an imbalance in nutrition that, is more than what the body requires.
Consequently, this imbalance may then aggravate itself into obesity, which predisposes a person into many diseases such as hypertension and osteoarthritis.
On the other hand, some people, especially anorexics have an imbalance that is less than the body requirements.
These persons are also prone to certain diseases and most especially iron-deficiency anemia.
To reduce the possibility of falling into these two off-the-scale imbalances, a health conscious individual should watch out for his or her body mass weight and height then compare it with the standards.
One can be said as being normally healthy if his or her body achieves the perfect balance between energy expenditure and food intake.
Assessment of nutritional balance is often derived through calculating if the weight of a person is too much, too short, or just enough for his or her height.
And what better way can one assess this than using a set of standards? There are several methods used to assess the nutritional balance of a person, taking consideration his or her body mass weight versus height relationship.
A health care provider such as the nutritionist or the nurse, are the ones usually using these guides, charts and calculations to assess the nutritional status of their clients.
The first tool used by the nurse or any health care provider, which compares the individual's weight to his or her height is the Ideal Body Weight or IBW.
IBW refers to the most ideal or optimal weight that a person should have in relation to his or her height.
However, this method is not really very accurate because there are certain factors to be considered in an individual such as his race, age, and the presence of certain disease conditions.
Another standard used in the analysis of the body mass weight versus height is the Body Mass Index or BMI.
BMI is much more simpler to be used because it requires only the weight of the individual in kilograms and his or her height in meters.
The formula for BMI is weight in kilograms divided by the height in meters squared.
After getting the value of the BMI, this is then compared to a given standard value range of what is normal, underweight, overweight and obese.
Nurses and other health practitioners also use standardized charts as references.