Body Mass Index often abbreviated as BMI is simply a relation between you height and weight given by the following mathematical formula –

                                      BMI = mass(kg)/[height(m)*height(m)]

Now according to your BMI you are put into different categories –

• <18.5  =  underweight.

• 18.5 – 25  = ideal.

• 25 – 30 = overweight.

• > 30 = obese.

Though we have often heard about why we should be healthy but still are ignorant of the various problems we might have to face due to our being overweight or underweight. Now, the people who are having low BMI generally have low immunity hence resulting in problems like anorexia , osteoporosis, infections etc. If you are overweight you are prone to type two diabetes,  cardiovascular diseases etc and if you are obese you are prone to problems like diabetes , high blood pressure , cardiovascular problems etc. Also they are prone to depression as they are generally not very happy with the way they look.

Apart from all this a recent research gives you even more reasons to keep a check on your BMI. It kept track of people undergoing surgery and the chances of survival and its relation with the BMI . It was surprising to see that not only obese but also the underweight people were at great risk compared to their healthy counterparts. It was reported in the Archives of Surgery that 2.8% people who had BMI of 23.1 or less died within a month of the surgery compared to 1% deaths among the people who weighed 35.3 or more. The research was carried out at University of Virginia, Charlottesville, including 189,522 people who underwent general or vascular surgery in the year 2005 and 2006.

The survey is a major setback to people who thought only overweight people and not underweight people are facing major threats to their life.