BMI for a 5'6" 145 lb male or female

BMI is a quick and easy measurement to find out if you're a healthy weight. While it has its flaws, it can be quite useful if you're aware of your own body composition and use it in conjunction with other metrics for personal health.

The BMI for a 5'6" 145 lb male or female is 23.4.

According to the CDC, this would be considered a healthy weight for all adults age 20 and older. A BMI is classified as healthy if it's 18.5 to 24.9.

What does it mean to be a healthy weight? Read on to find out more or calculate another BMI.

Learn more about what it means to be a healthy weight

If you're a healthy weight, congratulations! Being a healthy weight has a number of benefits, including being less likely to experience cardiovascular problems such has high blood pressure, heart attack, or stroke.

Being a healthy weight also makes it less likely for someone to develop type 2 diabetes. Excess weight, particularly abdominal fat, can contribute to insulin resistance and therefore diabetes.

One often overlooked benefit of being a healthy weight is that it places less stress on your joints, particularly the knees, hips, and ankles.

Of course, just because someone is a healthy weight according to their BMI, that doesn't mean they're healthy. They could potentially not have enough muscle mass or bone density.

If you're a healthy weight but still have questions about your overall health, it’s important to talk to your primary care physician or another medical professional. They can help determine if you have any underlying health issues, assess your nutritional needs, and develop a plan to ensure your healthy weight is truly healthy.

Important notes about BMI

While BMI is useful for categorizing someone's weight status, it isn't able to take into account someone's unique body composition, muscle mass, or overall metabolic health. For example, athletes and bodybuilders with high muscle mass may be classified as overweight or even obese based on their BMI despite being in great shape and having a low body fat percentage. Similarly, people with osteoporosis could have lower BMIs due to decreased bone density.

These are extreme examples, but they do illustrate the limitations of using BMI only to evaluate your body weight. That's why alternative measures such as waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, and body fat percentage can often provide a more accurate assessment of someone's health.

Of course, there are benefits to BMI: it's a quick, easy, and free way to get a rough idea of what kind of shape you're in, and you can track it over time to identify changes. And if you're not a bodybuilder or don't have health issue that could skew your BMI, it's a pretty good indicator of your weight status.

What's the formula for calculating BMI?

The formula for calculating BMI is weight (lb) / [height (in)]² x 703. In the case of someone who is 5'6" and 145 lbs, the formula would be [145 / 66²] x 703, with a result of 23.4.

What's a healthy weight for someone who is 5'6"?

BMI chart for 5'6" and 130 - 160 lbs

BMI for 5'6" and 145.1 - 145.9 lbs

Sources

• About Adult BMI - CDC

Disclaimer

The information on this page is intended to be an educational reference and is not to be taken as medical advice. If you think you're having a hypertensive or hypotensive emergency, or if you're having any kind of medical emergency, please call 911 immediately.