Many ask me – How much should I weigh?
However, there is not 1 IBW. There are a number of different factors that influence IBW. These include age, muscle-fat ratio, height, sex, and body fat distribution, etc.
Having excess weight can affect a person’s risk of developing a number of health conditions, including obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular problems.
There are multiple IBW formulas that have been developed; and they all have advantages and disadvantages IBW is a clinical standard that incorporates height, gender, and age, but does not represent the percentage of body fat and muscle mass all of which will vary from person to person.
IBW is used by the medical world to determine the correct dosage of prescribed medications for patients. IBW is used in sports to measure body weight in athletes according to a classification scale. IBW is the optimal weight associated with maximum life expectancy for a given height.
Before the use of BMI to quantify obesity, Total Body Weight (TBW) above 20% of IBW was defined as being obese
There are multiple IBW formulas that have been developed all of which have their advantages and disadvantages and you’ll find them all in this blog. It is a misconception that IBW accurately reflects an individual’s health and as such IBW remains controversial. It’s not what you weigh that is important it is what your weight is composed of.
