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BMI measures underweight, overweight, obese

Published:Monday | May 8, 2017 | 12:00 AMkimberley small
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AP
Models in Sunday's Prada Cruise midseason collection in Milan, Italy.
AP
Models wear creations which are part of the women's Prada Cruise mid season collection's first ever runway show, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Sunday, May 7, 2017.
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A person's body mass index (BMI) is based on their height and weight. A healthy BMI measurement ranges between 18.5 and 24.9. A person is considered underweight if measuring below 18.5 and overweight if measuring between 25 and 29.9. Persons measuring 30 or higher are considered obese.

To calculate BMI, one must convert their weight to kilogrammes (if it is in pounds) and height to centimetres (if it is in feet). First, multiply weight in pounds by 0.45. Secondly, multiply height in inches by 0.025. The answer for the second must be squared (multiplied by itself), then used to divide the answer for the first. So someone who is six feet (or 72 inches) tall and weighs 190 pounds would work out their BMI by multiplying 72 inches by 0.025 (1,8). The sure of this, 1.8 multiplied by 1.8, is 3,24. The weight in pounds is multiplied by .45 (85.5). This is divided by 3.24 to give a BMI of 26.38.

The average height of female models is 5 feet 9 inches, and the average for a male model is 5 feet 11 inches. In order to meet the French legislated BMI of 18, male models of average model height would have to weigh approximately 130 pounds and female models of average model height would have to weigh at least 120 pounds.

 

DEBATE INTENSIFIED

 

In December 2006, Madrid Fashionweek banned size zero models from the catwalk. The debate on models' health and wellness intensified earlier that year, after the deaths of Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston Macan and Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos. Reston Macan died from kidney malfunction as a result of complications from anorexia and bulimia. The model spent the latter part of her life on a diet of tomatoes and apples. At her death, Reston Macan's BMI measured 13.4.

Ramos suffered a similar fate in the same year, collapsing on her way offstage, going to her dressing room. She died of heart failure, and at her death measured a BMI of 14.5. The World Health Organization European standards for BMI list considers the measurement of 18.5 to be underweight. BMI obesity measurement begins at 30.

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