For a 70-year-old, what is a healthy BMI?
Answers
Age or gender aren’t taken into account when calculating BMI in adults. When a man and a woman have the same BMI, the woman is more likely to have more body fat. In addition, people over 65 have more body fat than those under 35. In light of these issues, BMI may not be an accurate indicator of a healthy weight range.
Seniors’ Normal BMI Range
• Underweight <23
• Normal 23 – 30
• Overweight > 31
Adults and seniors have different BMIs, leading to various weight-loss recommendations. Because adults with a BMI of 25-29.9 are considered overweight, people advise the elderly to lose weight if their BMI falls within this range, which is a suggestion that people should dismiss. Having less muscle mass than their younger counterparts, losing weight in your senior years can lead to muscle loss. Since the standard BMI range for adults is 18.5-24.9, encouraging people to lose weight to fall into this range could make them more likely to die or have bad health outcomes in old age. As a result, we should stop persuading the elderly to lose weight despite having a healthy BMI.
