BMI Risk

The BMI Risk tool is a clinical risk measure of healthy weight that applies to adult men and women. A healthy weight is a number that is associated with a low risk of weight-related diseases and health issues.

No. The tool is free to use after you have created a NowPatient account.

Traditional BMI calculations only use your height and weight to determine if you are at a healthy weight.

The NowPatient BMI Risk tool is an advanced measure that also takes into consideration other parameters such as your age, sex, and ethnicity. For example, If you’re from a black and ethnic minority group, you’re at increased risk of type 2 diabetes with a BMI of 23 or more.

If you have an eating disorder, the BMI score results do not apply. Please get further advice from your doctor or other health care professional.

The BMI calculation does not include muscle mass, which weighs more than fat. This means muscular adults and athletes may be classed as overweight or obese even though their body fat is low. Adults who lose muscle as they get older may fall into the healthy weight range even though they may be carrying excess fat.

In addition, for pregnant users, the BMI calculations should not be relied upon when using pregnancy weight.

NowPatient uses the data in your health profile to automatically determine your risk. If your health profile is not up to date, you can select the BMI Risk tool on your dashboard and complete the assessment manually.

The BMI Risk tool uses the following special category data:

• Age
• Height
• Weight
• Ethnicity
• Waist size

The below table highlights the meaning behind your risk score.

By using the NowPatient BMI Risk tool, we can identify if you are at risk of developing certain long-term conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and stroke. We can then provide you with interventions such as weight management and lifestyle modification advice. Reducing BMI has been shown to reduce the incidence of weight-related long-term health conditions.

Although we do not use this in the NowPatient BMI Risk calculation, waist size is important because carrying too much fat around your stomach can raise your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke, even if you have a healthy BMI.

If your waist size is:

• >94cm (37ins) for men
• >80cm (31.5ins) for women

It means you are carrying too much fat around your stomach which can raise your risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke. We recommend that you try and lose weight.

If your waist size is:

• >102cm (40ins) for men
• >88cm (34ins) for women

It means you are carrying too much fat around your stomach which can raise your risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke. We recommend that you try and lose weight. You have a very high risk of developing long-term health conditions. You should make an appointment with your GP.

To measure your waist size, follow the following steps:

1. Find the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hips
2. Wrap a tape measure around your waist midway between these points
3. Breathe out naturally before taking the measurement