Not medical advice.These estimates are for general informational use only and aren't a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing your diet, exercise, or medication.

What this dashboard does

This tool turns one set of measurements into a panel of body metrics rather than a single verdict. Enter your sex, age, weight, height and activity level and it computes your BMI(with the WHO category), the healthy weight range for your height, a reference table of historic ideal-weight formulas, your basal metabolic rate andmaintenance calories. Add optional tape measurements (neck and waist, plus hip for women) and it also estimates body-fat percentage, lean and fat mass,fat-free mass index (FFMI), and your waist-to-height ratio. Every metric appears only when the inputs it needs are present, and all maths runs in your browser.

How the numbers are calculated

BMI is weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared, classified against the World Health Organization adult cut-offs (TRS 894, 2000). Your healthy weight range is simply the weight you would be at the lower (BMI 18.5) and upper (BMI 25) edges of the healthy band foryour height — this is the honest, range-based answer to “what should I weigh”, and we lead with it. The single-number ideal-weight formulas (Devine 1974, Robinson 1983, Miller 1983, Hamwi 1964) are shown together in a clearly-labelled secondary table. They were built decades ago for medication dosing from insurance height-weight tables, depend only on height and sex, and disagree with each other by several kilograms — so we present them as historical reference points, never as a goal. BMR uses Mifflin-St Jeor (1990); maintenance calories (TDEE) multiply it by a standard activity factor. Body-fat percentage uses the US Navy circumference method (Hodgdon & Beckett, 1984); FFMI is height-normalized to a 1.8 m reference; waist-to-height ratio is read against the NICE NG246 (2025) bands, where the guidance is to keep your waist under half your height.

Honest limitations

BMI is a population screening tool, not a measure of health or body composition: it cannot tell muscle from fat, and it over-flags muscular people while under-flagging those who have lost muscle. WHO's own cut-offs note higher risk at lower BMI in some Asian populations (BMI ≥23 as an action point). The ideal-weight formulas are dated heuristics with no modern evidence base. The Navy body-fat method is an estimate from a tape measure — typically within a few percentage points of a DEXA scan, and sensitive to where you measure. None of these numbers diagnoses anything. For weight, health risk, or any change to how you eat or train, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian who can see the whole picture.

Privacy

calivue is 100% client-side. Your measurements are processed entirely on your device and are never transmitted to a server. If you save results they stay in your browser's local storage, and you can clear them at any time.

Frequently asked questions

What is the ideal weight for my height?

There is no single ideal weight. The most honest answer is a range: for your height, a BMI between 18.5 and 25 corresponds to a healthy weight band, and any weight inside it is reasonable. This tool shows that range first. The older single-number formulas (Devine, Robinson, Miller, Hamwi) are included only as historical reference points — they were built for drug dosing, use only height and sex, and disagree with each other, so they should not be treated as a target.

Why do the four ideal-weight formulas give different answers?

Because they were derived at different times from different data — mostly mid-20th-century insurance height-weight tables — for the practical purpose of estimating medication doses, not for setting personal goals. For a 180 cm man they range from roughly 72 to 78 kg. The spread is a reminder that “ideal body weight” is an approximation, which is why we emphasise the BMI-based healthy range instead.

Is BMI accurate?

BMI is a useful population-level screen but a blunt individual tool. It only uses height and weight, so it cannot distinguish muscle from fat or tell where fat is stored. Very muscular people can be flagged as overweight, and people who have lost muscle can look healthy by BMI alone. That is why this dashboard pairs BMI with waist-to-height ratio and, when you add tape measurements, body-fat percentage.

Which is a better health signal — BMI or waist-to-height ratio?

They answer different questions. BMI estimates overall weight relative to height; waist-to-height ratio estimates central (abdominal) fat, which is more closely tied to metabolic risk. NICE's 2025 guidance suggests keeping your waist under half your height (ratio below 0.5) as a simple check alongside BMI. Looking at both gives a fuller picture than either alone.

How is my maintenance calorie number worked out?

We estimate your basal metabolic rate with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, then multiply by an activity factor (1.2 sedentary up to 1.9 very active) to get maintenance calories — the level that keeps your weight roughly stable. It is an estimate; real needs vary with body composition, daily movement and genetics, so treat it as a starting point and adjust based on what actually happens over a few weeks.

Is any of my data sent anywhere?

No. Every calculation runs in your browser and nothing you enter leaves your device. If you save results, they stay in your browser's local storage and you can clear them whenever you like.