BMI Calculator

Body mass index is your weight against the square of your height. It is a screening number, not a diagnosis — here is what it is, and what a provider would look at next.

Your BMI

26.5

25.0 – 29.9

Your BMI is in the overweight range. On its own that is a screening result, not a reason to treat.

BMI does not distinguish muscle from fat, and it does not measure where fat sits. Two people at the same BMI can have very different risk.

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Not medical advice. This tool is for general information and does not diagnose any condition or replace a clinician. Everything you enter stays in your browser — Koves does not store it, receive it, or carry it into a visit.

What the number is

Two people of very different builds, cropped from collarbone to hip, on amber seamless — It was built to compare populations, not to describe a person.

BMI is one calculation: your weight in kilograms divided by the square of your height in metres. It was built to compare populations, and it is used in the clinic because it is cheap, repeatable and needs nothing but a scale and a tape.

The adult cut-offs are the same for men and women and do not change with age. They are the World Health Organization’s, and the US clinical guidelines use the same boundaries.

Under 18.5: Underweight
18.5 – 24.9: Healthy weight
25.0 – 29.9: Overweight
30.0 – 34.9: Obesity, class I
35.0 – 39.9: Obesity, class II
40.0 and above: Obesity, class III

What it means for treatment

A woman filling in her online visit on a phone, against amber seamless — A clinician reads the whole visit, not the index.

BMI is where a weight conversation starts, not where it ends. US clinical guidelines put the threshold for weight-management treatment at a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 or above with a weight-related condition such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnoea.

That is a threshold for a discussion with a clinician — not a prescription. Whether medication is appropriate depends on your history, your other medicines and what you are trying to change.

Koves does not prescribe from a number. A licensed provider reviews your visit and decides whether treatment is appropriate at all.

What it does not tell you

A close crop of a shoulder and upper arm on amber seamless — The scale cannot tell what the weight is made of.

BMI has no way of knowing what your weight is made of. Muscle is denser than fat, so a lifter and a sedentary person of the same height and weight get the same BMI and are not in the same position.

It does not separate muscle, fat, bone or fluid.
It does not say where fat is carried — visceral fat around the organs carries more risk than the same mass elsewhere.
It does not adjust for age, ethnicity or build, though the risk associated with a given BMI does differ across populations.
It says nothing about blood pressure, lipids, glucose or liver markers, which is what a provider actually treats.

This is why waist circumference and blood work sit next to BMI in the guidelines rather than behind it.

How it is calculated

Macro of the sliding weights on a mechanical beam scale — Two numbers, one beam. That is the whole instrument.

Metric: BMI = kg ÷ m². A person 1.78 m tall weighing 84 kg has a BMI of 84 ÷ (1.78 × 1.78) = 26.5.

Imperial: BMI = (lb ÷ in²) × 703, which is the same calculation with the unit conversion folded into one constant. This tool converts pounds and inches to kilograms and centimetres first, so both toggles give the same answer.

How this is worked out

World Health Organization — Obesity and overweight fact sheet (BMI definition and adult cut-off points)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute — Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults (BMI classification and treatment thresholds)
Body mass index = weight in kilograms ÷ (height in metres)². Imperial entries are converted before the calculation, not after.

What Koves offers

PrescriptionClinician-reviewed

Weight loss with Koves

A licensed provider reviews your visit and prescribes a GLP-1 if it is appropriate. Dose changes, messaging and delivery are included.

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Common questions

Is BMI accurate for athletes?

Not on its own. BMI counts muscle and fat the same way, so a muscular person can land in the overweight or obesity range with low body fat. A clinician would use waist circumference, body composition or blood work instead of arguing with the number.

Does BMI work the same for men and women?

The cut-offs are the same. Body composition at a given BMI is not — women carry a higher proportion of body fat at the same BMI — which is one of the reasons the number is a screen rather than a measurement of health.

What BMI do you need for a GLP-1?

US clinical guidelines put the threshold at a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 or above with a weight-related condition. Meeting it does not mean a prescription is appropriate: that is a decision for a licensed provider after reviewing your history and current medicines.

Do you keep what I enter?

No. The calculation runs in your browser and the values are never sent to Koves or anyone else. They are not stored, and they do not follow you if you open the weight loss page from here.

References

A woman turning toward something out of frame, on an open amber sweep

A number starts the conversation. A provider finishes it.

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