BMI Chart
A weight range for every height — computed from the cut-points themselves, not transcribed from another website.
On the WHO international scale, BMI 18.5–24.9 is the healthy band, 25.0–29.9 is overweight and 30.0 and above is obese — the same for every adult. The weight those numbers correspond to changes with height: a healthy weight is 49–66 kg (108–145 lb) at 5'4" and 59–79 kg (129–174 lb) at 5'10". On the WHO Asia-Pacific scale the overweight line drops from 25.0 to 23.0 and obesity to 25.0, which lowers the top of the healthy band by roughly 6 kg at any height.
Height and weight chart
| Height | Healthy (BMI 18.5–25) | Overweight (BMI 25–30) | Obese |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4'10"147 cm | 89 – 119 lb | 120 – 143 lb | ≥ 144 lb |
| 4'11"150 cm | 92 – 123 lb | 124 – 148 lb | ≥ 149 lb |
| 5'0"152 cm | 95 – 128 lb | 129 – 153 lb | ≥ 154 lb |
| 5'1"155 cm | 98 – 132 lb | 133 – 158 lb | ≥ 159 lb |
| 5'2"157 cm | 102 – 136 lb | 137 – 164 lb | ≥ 165 lb |
| 5'3"160 cm | 105 – 141 lb | 142 – 169 lb | ≥ 170 lb |
| 5'4"163 cm | 108 – 145 lb | 146 – 174 lb | ≥ 175 lb |
| 5'5"165 cm | 112 – 150 lb | 151 – 180 lb | ≥ 181 lb |
| 5'6"168 cm | 115 – 154 lb | 155 – 185 lb | ≥ 186 lb |
| 5'7"170 cm | 119 – 159 lb | 160 – 191 lb | ≥ 192 lb |
| 5'8"173 cm | 122 – 164 lb | 165 – 197 lb | ≥ 198 lb |
| 5'9"175 cm | 126 – 169 lb | 170 – 203 lb | ≥ 204 lb |
| 5'10"178 cm | 129 – 174 lb | 175 – 209 lb | ≥ 210 lb |
| 5'11"180 cm | 133 – 179 lb | 180 – 215 lb | ≥ 216 lb |
| 6'0"183 cm | 137 – 184 lb | 185 – 221 lb | ≥ 222 lb |
| 6'1"185 cm | 141 – 189 lb | 190 – 227 lb | ≥ 228 lb |
| 6'2"188 cm | 145 – 194 lb | 195 – 233 lb | ≥ 234 lb |
| 6'3"191 cm | 149 – 200 lb | 201 – 240 lb | ≥ 241 lb |
| 6'4"193 cm | 152 – 205 lb | 206 – 246 lb | ≥ 247 lb |
Rounded inward — lower bounds up, upper bounds down — so adjacent bands never overlap. Every figure is derived from the BMI formula (kg/m²) rather than transcribed.
The category charts, as published by the WHO
These are the tables themselves — the numbers that never move regardless of how tall you are. Everything in the height-and-weight matrix above is derived from these rows. Put them side by side and the disagreement is arithmetic, not opinion: the Asia-Pacific chart moves the overweight line from 25.0 down to 23.0 and the obesity line from 30.0 down to 25.0.
WHO international (global)
| BMI range | Classification |
|---|---|
| < 18.5 | Underweight |
| 18.5 – < 25 | Normal weight |
| 25 – < 30 | Overweight |
| 30 – < 35 | Obese class I |
| 35 – < 40 | Obese class II |
| ≥ 40 | Obese class III (severe obesity) |
Source: WHO Expert Consultation, Lancet 2004 — Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations · WHO — Obesity and overweight fact sheet(WHO technical report series / current global reference)
WHO Asia-Pacific (WPRO / IASO / IOTF)
| BMI range | Classification |
|---|---|
| < 18.5 | Underweight |
| 18.5 – < 23 | Normal |
| 23 – < 25 | Overweight (at risk) |
| 25 – < 30 | Obese I |
| ≥ 30 | Obese II |
Source: WHO / IASO / IOTF — The Asia-Pacific Perspective: Redefining Obesity and Its Treatment (2000) · KOSSO Obesity Fact Sheet 2024 — cites the 2000 Asia-Pacific criteria as its definition(The Asia-Pacific Perspective: Redefining Obesity and Its Treatment (2000))
How each row is calculated
There is no separate table for men, women or heights. Every weight in the matrix comes from rearranging one formula:
rearranged → weight (kg) = BMI × height (m)²
At 1.63 m (5'4"), the bottom of the healthy band is 18.5 × 1.63² = 49.2 kg and the top is 25 × 1.63² = 66.4 kg, which is why the row reads 49–66 kg. It also means a chart that quotes a single target weight for every height has quietly dropped the height term — that is not a BMI chart, it is an average of one.
Bounds in the table are rounded inward — lower bounds up, upper bounds down — so the healthy band can never overlap the overweight band after rounding. Full derivation on the BMI formula page.
Why the Asian BMI chart puts you in a higher category at the same weight
Switch the toggle above from "WHO international" to "WHO Asia-Pacific" and watch the top of every healthy band fall. Nothing about you changed — the lines moved.
The reason is in the WHO's own 2004 expert consultation: at the same BMI, people of Asian descent tend to carry a higher proportion of body fat and more of it viscerally, around the abdominal organs, so type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease appear at lower BMI values. The consultation identified 23.0 as the point where risk is already measurably raised, and explicitly kept 25 and 30 as the international definitions rather than redefining them.
In practice: a 1.70 m adult is healthy up to 72.3 kg on the international chart and up to 66.5 kg on the Asia-Pacific chart. Same person, same weight, two answers nearly 6 kg apart. If you want the national version for a specific country, all eleven standards are compared here.
The same bands drawn to scale
Every standard on this site plotted on one 15–35 axis, so the disagreement is visible rather than described.
Dashed lines mark 23 and 25 — the two numbers this whole topic turns on. Green is the normal range, amber underweight, orange overweight / raised risk, red obesity / high risk.
Every chart, side by side
Eleven standards read from their issuing authority's own document. China (24 / 28), Hong Kong and Korea (23 / 25), Japan (25 with no overweight band), Singapore and the ADA (23 / 27.5) all differ — which is why "the" Asian BMI chart does not exist.
| Standard | Normal range | Overweight from | Obesity from | Waist / central obesity | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WHO international (global)World Health Organization | 18.5 – 24.9 | 25.0 | 30.0 | — | Primary source |
| WHO Expert Consultation 2004 (Asian populations)World Health Organization expert consultation, published in The Lancet | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 27.5 | — | Primary source |
| WHO Asia-Pacific (WPRO / IASO / IOTF)WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, International Association for the Study of Obesity, International Obesity Task Force | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 25.0 | — | Primary source |
| ChinaNational Health Commission of the PRC — health industry standard WS/T 428 | 18.5 – 23.9 | 24.0 | 28.0 | M ≥90cm / W ≥85cm | Primary source |
| Hong Kong, ChinaDepartment of Health, Centre for Health Protection — adopting the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office classification for Asian adults | 18.5 – < 23.0 | 23.0 | 25.0 | WHtR < 0.5 | Primary source |
| SingaporeHealth Promotion Board (HPB), Ministry of Health | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 27.5 | M ≥90cm / W ≥80cm | Primary source |
| JapanJapan Society for the Study of Obesity (JASSO) | 18.5 – 24.9 | — | 25.0 | M ≥85cm / W ≥90cm | Primary source |
| South KoreaKorean Society for the Study of Obesity (KSSO) | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 25.0 | M ≥90cm / W ≥85cm | Primary source |
| India and South AsiaConsensus statement for Asian Indians (Misra et al., JAPI 2009); Indian Council of Medical Research | 18.0 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 25.0 | M ≥90cm / W ≥80cm | Primary source |
| UK NICE guidance — Asian, Chinese, Middle Eastern and Black African/Caribbean adultsNational Institute for Health and Care Excellence (UK), guideline NG246 | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 27.5 | WHtR < 0.5 | Primary source |
| ADA 2026 standard for Asian populationsAmerican Diabetes Association — Standards of Care in Diabetes 2026, adult overweight and obesity | 18.5 – 22.9 | 23.0 | 27.5 | M ≥90cm / W ≥80cm | Primary source |
All 11 standards shown, each read from the issuing authority's own document (linked per row). The WHO 2004 figures of 23.0 / 27.5 are public-health action points, not a redefinition of the international categories.
What the chart cannot tell you
A BMI chart is a screening tool and it is a crude one. The ADA's 2026 standards put its sensitivity for detecting obesity at roughly 50% — about half of people who have obesity are not identified by BMI alone — and name Asian populations and older adults as the groups it understates most. Two specific blind spots:
- Muscle. BMI cannot separate muscle from fat. A lean, muscular 1.80 m man at 85 kg reads BMI 26.2 whether he is an athlete or not, and reads "obese" on the Asia-Pacific chart.
- Where the fat sits. Central fat carries risk that total weight does not capture. A BMI of 22 with a waist over 90 cm (men) or 80 cm (women) is a raised-risk combination that every chart above reports as normal.
Which is why the second measurement matters more than the second chart: waist-to-height ratio has one threshold — keep your waist under half your height — and needs no ethnicity switch at all.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a BMI chart?
- A BMI chart shows the weight range that corresponds to each BMI category at a given height. Because BMI is weight divided by height squared, the weight range for a category moves with height — a healthy weight at 5'2" is a different number from a healthy weight at 6'2". The category boundaries themselves (18.5, 25 and 30 on the WHO international scale) never move.
- What is a healthy weight for my height?
- Multiply your height in metres squared by 18.5 for the bottom of the healthy band and by the overweight line for the top. At 1.70 m on the WHO international scale that is 53.5 kg to 72.3 kg. On the WHO Asia-Pacific scale the top of the band drops to BMI 23, giving 53.5 kg to 66.5 kg for the same height.
- Does a BMI chart change for Asian people?
- The category boundaries do, the arithmetic does not. A chart built on the WHO international scale puts the overweight line at 25.0; one built on the WHO Asia-Pacific scale puts it at 23.0 and obesity at 25.0. At 1.70 m that moves the top of the healthy band from 72.3 kg down to 66.5 kg — a difference of nearly 6 kg at the same height.
- Why do online BMI charts disagree with each other?
- Two reasons. Some are built on different standards — WHO international, WHO Asia-Pacific, or a national standard such as China's WS/T 428 — and some simply get the arithmetic wrong by printing one weight range for every height. A chart that shows the same target weight regardless of height is not a BMI chart, it is an average.
Data sources and how we verify them
Every cut-point, band and formula on this page is taken from the issuing authority's own document, listed below. We do not use second-hand summaries, and we do not fill gaps with numbers no source states.
- World Health Organization (WHO)
International cut-points (25 / 30) and the 2004 Asian action points
- National Health Commission of the PRC
China's current adult cut-points — WS/T 428 (24 / 28) and waist criteria
- Department of Health, Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong classification (23 / 25), from the Population Health Survey 2020-22
- Health Promotion Board, Singapore
Singapore's three-band risk ladder (18.5–22.9 / 23.0–27.4 / ≥27.5)
- Japan Society for the Study of Obesity (JASSO)
Japan's classification, which has no overweight tier (obesity from 25)
- Korean Society for the Study of Obesity (KSSO)
Korea's classification and abdominal-obesity waist thresholds
- Indian Council of Medical Research / Misra consensus
South Asian cut-points, including the 18.0 lower bound
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), UK
Lower ethnic-specific thresholds for Asian adults in the UK (23 / 27.5)
- American Diabetes Association (ADA)
2026 standards — Asian obesity at 27.5 and central obesity overriding BMI
Cut-points are population-level statistical thresholds, not individual diagnoses. If your value sits near a category line, measure your waist as well and read it alongside body-fat percentage. Last checked: 2026-09-15.
Sources
- WHO Expert Consultation — Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies (Lancet 2004;363:157–163)
- WHO — Obesity and overweight fact sheet
- WHO / IASO / IOTF — The Asia-Pacific Perspective: Redefining Obesity and Its Treatment (2000)
- ADA Standards of Care in Diabetes 2026 — adult overweight and obesity
Every figure above was checked against the original document. This page is general information, not medical advice.
Other countries and regions
Health Information Disclaimer
Content on this site is for general information only and does not constitute medical advice. Consult a doctor or qualified health professional for personal health concerns. Last updated: August 9, 2026.
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