India ranks amongst the bottom in Body Mass Index (BMI) ranking

India ranks amongst the bottom in Body Mass Index (BMI) ranking

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Health

In news

• According to a study in The Lancet, India ranks third and fifth from the bottom respectively among countries where 19-year-old girls and boys have a low Body Mass Index (BMI), 

Key takeaways 

• The study provides new estimates for height and BMI trends in 2019 across 200 countries after analysing data from 2,181 studies.
• The mean BMI of 19-year-old boys is 20.1 in India, compared to a high of 29.6 in the Cook Islands and a low of 19.2 in Ethiopia. 
• For Indian girls, the mean BMI is again 20.1, compared to a high of 29.0 in Tonga and a low of 19.6 in Timor-Leste.
• The mean height of Indian 19-year-olds is 166.5 cm for boys and 155.2 cm for girls, well below the high of Netherlands boys (183.8 cm) and girls (170 cm).

Do you know? 

• BMI is measured as the weight in kg divided by the square of the height in metres. 
• WHO guidelines define a normal BMI range as 18.5 to 24.9, overweight as 25 or higher, and obesity as 30 or higher.