BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is simply calculated from a person's weight and height. BMI is a fairly reliable indicator of body "fatness" for most people. BMI does not measure body fat directly, but research has shown that BMI correlates to direct measures of body fat.
BMI does NOT distinguish between gender. Women tend to have more body fat than women.
BMI does NOT distinguish between age groups. Older people, on average, tend to have more body fat than younger adults.
BMI does not distinguish between fat and muscle nor distribution of fat. Highly trained athletes may have a high BMI because of increased muscularity rather than increase body fatness.
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