| THEORY & FORMULAE |
Body mass index (BMI) is a statistical measure of the weight of a person scaled according to height. It was invented around 1840 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing "social physics".
Body mass index is defined as the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres (kg/m2). BMI index may be calculated using any of the formulas below.
It will, however, overestimate fatness in people who are muscular or atheletic.
BMI Prime, a simple modification of the BMI system, is the dimensionless ratio of actual BMI to upper limit BMI (currently defined at BMI 25, and 23 for some Asian populations, and 26 for Pacific Islanders). Individuals with BMI Prime < 0.74 are underweight; and those at 1.00 or greater are overweight.
Body Weight Categories
BMI can be considered an alternative for direct measures of body fat. Additionally, BMI is an inexpensive and easy-to-perform method of screening for weight categories. BMI is commonly used to classify underweight, overweight and obesity in adults, see table below:
BMI & Physical Attractiveness
BMI is a major determinant of physical attractiveness of a woman. Tovee & others have researched and produced a graph relating human female attractiveness to BMI.
The graph of their results shows a smooth trend-line that peaks (attractive = 5) at BMI of 19 - 20. Attractiveness rating seems to drop sharply below BMI of 17, and it drops gradually for BMI values over 25.
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EXAMPLE Of Input/Output
to demo data entry expectations and results; you may edit & use it as starting point