Enter your height to see the full weight range considered healthy under the standard 18.5-24.9 BMI band — a range, not a single target number.
Body mass index is normally weight ÷ height². This tool solves it in the other direction: it takes the standard "normal" BMI band, 18.5 to 24.9, and multiplies each end by your own height squared. At 170 cm (1.70 m, height² = 2.89), that gives 18.5 × 2.89 = 53.5 kg at the low end and 24.9 × 2.89 = 72.0 kg at the high end — the same 53.5–72.0 kg range this page shows for its own default height, or 117.9–158.6 lb.
Because height is squared, the range widens quickly as height increases: a 150 cm person’s range spans about 15 kg, while a 190 cm person’s spans nearly 24 kg for the identical BMI band.
BMI, and therefore this range, is calculated from height and weight alone — it has no way to distinguish two people of the same height and weight who carry that weight completely differently. A muscular athlete and a sedentary person at an identical BMI can have very different body fat percentages, and BMI cannot tell them apart because it was never given the information to. This is the method's single best-known limitation, not a flaw specific to this calculator: every BMI-based tool inherits it, including the standard BMI calculator this range is built from.
The 18.5–24.9 band itself is a population-level standard, not a personalised one. It was derived from broad epidemiological data and does not adjust for frame size, ethnicity, age, or sex, even though research shows optimal ranges shift somewhat across these groups. Treat the output as a reasonable starting reference for most adults, not a precise personal target.
This tool deliberately returns a range rather than one "ideal weight," which is the opposite design choice from the ideal weight calculator on this site — that one applies formulas like Devine or Robinson to produce a single figure. Neither approach is more correct; they answer different questions. A range communicates that health is not a single number to hit, while a point estimate is easier to use as a specific target. Use whichever framing is more useful for what you are actually trying to do, and treat both as estimates rather than clinical targets — not medical advice, and not a substitute for a conversation with a healthcare provider who can account for what a calculator cannot.
This calculator rearranges the standard BMI formula for weight at the two boundaries of the healthy BMI band — 18.5 and 24.9 — giving a minimum and maximum weight for your height: minWeight = 18.5 × height(m)², maxWeight = 24.9 × height(m)². It's the same underlying formula as the BMI Calculator, just solved for weight instead of solving for BMI from a known weight.
No — like BMI itself, this range is based purely on height and doesn't distinguish muscle from fat or account for frame size. A muscular person can sit above this range while carrying genuinely low body fat, and a person with a naturally smaller frame might sit at the low end while still being healthy. See the Body Fat Calculator or Ideal Weight Calculator for measures that go beyond height alone.
No. BMI-based ranges are population-level screening tools, not individualized targets — they don't account for age, sex-specific body composition, muscle mass, or frame size, and were derived from population averages rather than any one person's physiology. Treat this range as a general reference point to discuss with a healthcare professional, not a personal prescription.
The Ideal Weight Calculator uses specific medical formulas (like Devine or Robinson) to produce one single target weight for your height and sex — formulas originally developed for clinical purposes like drug dosing. This tool instead shows the full range of weights considered healthy under the standard BMI band, which is a wider, less prescriptive answer to a related but different question.
Worked example: at 170 cm (1.70 m), minWeight = 18.5 × 1.70² = 18.5 × 2.89 ≈ 53.46 kg, and maxWeight = 24.9 × 2.89 ≈ 71.96 kg — a healthy range of roughly 53.5-72.0 kg (about 117.9-158.7 lb) for that height.
Want a single target number instead of a range? See the Ideal Weight Calculator, or the full BMI Calculator to check a specific weight against this range. Estimating a child’s adult height instead? The Child Height Predictor uses both parents’ heights and shows the real prediction band. Target ranges are quoted in whichever unit the source used — the kg to pounds converter puts them on the same scale as your own weight.