BMI vs. BAI

When it comes to staying healthy and maintaining a good weight, you've probably heard of a BMI, but how about a BAI?

BAI is a more accurate way to see if you're holding onto a healthy weight or not, and you'll probably hear a lot more about it in the new future. It's called the BAI - Body Adiposity Index.

For years we've been hearing about the Body Mass Index, or BMI, as a good way to figure out where we sit on the weight spectrum. High BMIs, above 25, meant being overweight or even obese. However, the BMI method has problems. If you're muscular, it gives you one that is too high, if you're old, one that could be too low. So, for many, it isn't all that accurate.

Now, the BAI steps in. It's a much more accurate way to show whether you're in a healthy weight range. The "A" stands for Adiposity, a measurement of your Adipose tissue, otherwise known as your fat tissue. The good part of this newer measurement is that it better estimates your percentage of body fat using your height, weight and waist measurement. Even for those the BMI misses, the muscle bound or elderly, this new index can give a fairly accurate estimate of their body fat.

The goal, body fat wise, is to be between 16% and 26% for women and 12% to 22% for men. The best way to calculate where you fall is to go to www.intmath.com/functions-and-graphs/bmi-bai-comparison.php for the BAI calculator.