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guidelines are based on body mass index (BMI). The BMI uses a mathematical formula to compare your height to your weight. (There’s a separate BMI formula for kids and teens,discussed in Chapter 24.) To find your BMI,use the table on pages 28–29.
    According to the chart, a woman who is 64 inches tall (5 feet 4 inches) and weighs between 110 and 144.9 pounds is within the normal weight range for her height. As a general rule, however, you want your BMI to be in the 20 to 22 range—so in this case,she would ideally weigh between 116 and 128 pounds. The difference in pounds across BMI levels takes into account different builds and body types. If this same woman weighed between 145 and 173 pounds, she would be overweight; if she weighed 174 pounds or more, she would be obese. To qualify as morbidly obese, she would need to weigh more than 232 pounds. (The terms extreme and morbid obesity are used for people who are so overweight that their weight interferes with basic physical functions such as breathing.) The BMI chart lets you see quickly and accurately where you stand in weight range for your height. If you’re overweight or obese, it also gives you a good idea of what a healthier weight range would be for you.
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    WHAT YOUR BMI MEANS
    Doctors use the BMI to classify an individual’s weight as follows:
     
    Normal weight range: BMI of between 20 and 24.9
    Overweight: BMI of between 25 and 29.9
    Obese: BMI of 30 or more
    Extremely or morbidly obese: BMI of 40 or more 5
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    Still, there are some limitations to the BMI chart. If you’re very muscular, your BMI might fall into the overweight category, even though you’re very fit and have a normal to low percentage of body fat. A more worrisome problem is that you might fall into the normal BMI weight range even though poor health has left you frail and you should actually weigh more. For those over 65, desirable BMI ranges are slightly higher. 6 However, the BMI is a pretty good indication how your weight compares with the normal range.
    A more accurate way to figure out if you’re overweight is to ascertain your percentage of body fat. Body-fat measurement is not a standard test at a typical doctor’s office. It requires special equipment and it’s usually not an exact science. It’s most useful for tracking the trend of your weight, especially if you are exercising, to see if you are losing fat and gaining muscle. 7
    DIABETES AND BMI
    An individual’s risk of getting diabetes increases proportionally to the increase in his or her BMI.In the United States,two-thirds of the adult men and women diagnosed with diabetes have a BMI above 27.As you can see by the chart on pages 28–29, a BMI of 27 qualifies a person as overweight but not yet obese. 8 , 9
    To use this chart, find your height in inches in the left-hand column, and then look
    across to find your weight in pounds.The number at the top of the column is your body
    mass index.
    BODY MASS INDEX (BMI) TABLE

    Source: Adapted from Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Over- weight and Obesity in Adults: The Evidence Report.
    Dr.Atkins used to say that he rarely saw a patient with a BMI above 30 who wasn’t already well on the way to diabetes, or there already. One patient, Larry H., really stands out in that regard. Several years before he came to see Dr. Atkins, Larry was told by his doctor that he was borderline diabetic and put him on a variety of drugs. Larry, who was overweight, dutifully took the drugs but didn’t change his high- carb diet. When he arrived at the office, he had gained even more weight and his BMI was around 37. Dr. Atkins took one look at Larry and just knew he already had diabetes. His fasting blood sugar con- firmed his hunch—it came in at 201 mg/dL.

    RESEARCH REPORT: WOMEN, WEIGHT GAIN, AND DIABETES
    In an article published in 1995, researchers studied weight and weight gain among women as risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes. They looked