Ideal weight calculator (Indian BMI range)
Enter your sex and height, and your current weight if you want to see how far you are from the range. You get the healthy weight range for your height on Indian BMI cut-offs, where overweight and obesity begin, and the four classic ideal body weight formulas side by side.
| Formula | Weight | BMI | Indian range |
|---|
These formulas were mostly made for drug dosing and rest on old American height-weight tables, not on health outcomes in Indians. Treat them as a curiosity; the BMI range above is the better guide. Your waist matters too: Indian guidelines flag 90 cm or more for men and 80 cm or more for women. Check it with the waist-to-height ratio calculator.
For most Indian adults, a healthy weight is whatever puts your BMI between 18.5 and 22.9, so healthy weight in kg = 18.5 to 22.9 × your height in metres squared. At 170 cm that's about 53.5 to 66 kg; at 160 cm, about 47.4 to 58.6 kg. The classic "ideal body weight" formulas (Devine, Robinson, Miller, Hamwi) give a single number instead, but they were built for drug dosing, not as health targets.
How the healthy range is worked out
BMI is weight in kg divided by height in metres squared. Turn that around and you get the weight for any BMI: weight = BMI × height².
The range uses Indian cut-offs, not the global ones. A 2004 WHO expert consultation in The Lancet found that Asian populations face higher diabetes and heart disease risk at lower BMIs than Europeans. The 2009 consensus statement for Asian Indians (Misra and colleagues, JAPI) then set the lines most Indian doctors use, and a 2025 revision kept 23 as the key line.
| BMI | Indian label | Weight at 170 cm |
|---|---|---|
| Below 18.5 | Underweight | under 53.5 kg |
| 18.5 to 22.9 | Normal | 53.5 to 66.2 kg |
| 23 to 24.9 | Overweight | from 66.5 kg |
| 25 and above | Obese | from 72.3 kg |
These are the same cut-offs as our BMI calculator and the chart in the ideal weight for height guide. The range is the same for men and women, because BMI doesn't use sex.
The four classic formulas
Each one starts with a base weight at 5 feet (60 inches) and adds a fixed amount for every inch above that. The constants below are as listed in Peterson and colleagues' 2016 review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
| Formula | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Devine (1974) | 50 kg + 2.3 kg per inch over 5 ft | 45.5 kg + 2.3 kg per inch |
| Robinson (1983) | 52 kg + 1.9 kg per inch | 49 kg + 1.7 kg per inch |
| Miller (1983) | 56.2 kg + 1.41 kg per inch | 53.1 kg + 1.36 kg per inch |
| Hamwi (1964) | 106 lb + 6 lb per inch | 100 lb + 5 lb per inch |
Robinson's original paper gives slightly more precise figures (51.65 + 1.85 for men, 48.67 + 1.65 for women); the rounded versions above are the ones most often quoted, and the difference is under a kilo.
Worked example
A man who is 5 ft 8 in (172.7 cm) is 8 inches over 5 feet.
- Devine: 50 + 2.3 × 8 = 68.4 kg (BMI 22.9)
- Robinson: 52 + 1.9 × 8 = 67.2 kg (BMI 22.5)
- Miller: 56.2 + 1.41 × 8 = 67.5 kg (BMI 22.6)
- Hamwi: 106 + 6 × 8 = 154 lb = 69.9 kg (BMI 23.4)
His healthy range on Indian cut-offs is 55.2 to 68.3 kg. Three formulas land at the very top of it, and Hamwi lands in the overweight band. That pattern holds for taller men: at 180 cm, Devine gives 75 kg and Hamwi 77.7 kg, both above the Indian range of 59.9 to 74.2 kg. For women of average Indian height, all four usually fall inside the range.
Why the formulas aren't health targets
Pai and Paloucek's 2000 review traced where these numbers came from. Devine published his in 1974 as part of a method for dosing gentamicin, an antibiotic, and it matched an older rule of thumb taken from height-weight tables. Peterson's team notes that Robinson and Miller, also motivated by drug dosing, fitted their equations to the 1959 and 1983 Metropolitan Life Insurance height-weight tables. Pai and Paloucek concluded the formulas look alike simply because the tables behind them broadly agreed.
So the formulas:
- rest on old American height-weight tables, not on health outcomes in Indians
- give one number, when a healthy weight is really a range
- ignore muscle, frame, age and ethnicity
- drift away from BMI with height. Peterson's team found they underestimate weight for short people and overestimate it for tall people.
That's the job they were made for: dosing some medicines. For your own goal, use the BMI range and your waist.
If you're under 5 feet
All four formulas are written as "per inch over 5 feet", so they simply don't cover shorter heights. The calculator leaves the formula rows blank below 152.4 cm and shows the BMI range, which works at any adult height. At 150 cm (4 ft 11 in) that's about 41.6 to 51.5 kg.
Waist size matters more than the number
BMI can't tell muscle from fat or show where fat sits. Indian guidelines treat a waist of 90 cm or more in men and 80 cm or more in women as abdominal obesity, even at a normal BMI. A simpler check: keep your waist under half your height. The waist-to-height ratio calculator and the waist-to-height ratio guide explain both. If you lift seriously, a body fat estimate tells you more than any weight target.
How to use your result
- Inside the range: no need to chase a particular number. Watch your waist instead.
- Above it: you don't have to reach the middle. Losing a few kilos and a few centimetres off the waist helps blood sugar and blood pressure for many people. The calorie calculator sets a daily target, and BMR vs TDEE explains where that number comes from.
- Below it: eat a little more with enough protein and add strength training. See a doctor if you're losing weight without trying.
The range is for adults. It doesn't apply in pregnancy, and under-18s need age-specific growth charts.
Useful links
- Misra A et al. Consensus statement for Asian Indians, JAPI 2009
- Misra A et al. Revised definition of obesity in Asian Indians, 2025
- WHO expert consultation: BMI for Asian populations, The Lancet 2004
- Peterson CM et al. Universal equation for estimating ideal body weight, AJCN 2016
- Pai MP, Paloucek FP. The origin of the "ideal" body weight equations, 2000
- Robinson JD et al. Determination of ideal body weight for drug dosage calculations, 1983
This calculator is for general information and isn't medical advice. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, a thyroid condition or a history of eating disorders, set a weight goal with your doctor.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ideal weight for my height in India?
Indian guidelines treat a BMI of 18.5 to 22.9 as normal, so your healthy weight is 18.5 to 22.9 times your height in metres squared. At 165 cm that's about 50.4 to 62.3 kg; at 175 cm, about 56.7 to 70.1 kg.
Which ideal body weight formula is the most accurate?
None of them is accurate as a health target. Devine, Robinson, Miller and Hamwi were built from height-weight tables for drug dosing, and a 2000 review found they look alike because those tables broadly agreed. The BMI range on Indian cut-offs is a better guide.
Why does the Hamwi or Devine formula say I'm overweight on the Indian scale?
For men around 5 ft 8 in and taller, Hamwi and Devine often give a weight with a BMI of 23 or more, which counts as overweight for Asian Indians. The formulas come from American data and don't account for the lower Indian cut-offs.
Do ideal weight formulas work for people under 5 feet?
No. All four are written as a base weight at 5 feet plus a set amount per inch above it, so they don't cover shorter heights. Use the BMI range instead, which works at any adult height.
Is the ideal weight different for men and women?
The BMI-based healthy range is the same for both, because BMI doesn't use sex. The classic formulas give women a lower number, and waist limits differ: 90 cm for men and 80 cm for women in Indian guidelines.
More free tools
BMI calculator
Body mass index with both the WHO and the Asian-Indian cut-offs, plus your healthy weight range.
Waist-to-height ratio calculator
Your waist-to-height ratio with the NICE 0.5 and 0.6 bands, and the waist size that keeps you under half your height.
Body fat calculator
US Navy tape-measure method: body fat %, fat and lean mass in kg, and where you sit on the ACE chart.
Calorie calculator
Daily calories (TDEE) for losing, keeping or gaining weight, with a protein, carb and fat split.