which returns calculated BMI based on a weight in G5 and height in F5.
What is BMI?
BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It is a simple (and inexpensive) way to assess body fat based on height and weight only. BMI is a screening tool that can be used to identify individuals who are underweight, overweight, or obese. However, BMI is not a diagnostic tool. You can read more about BMI on the CDC website. BMI = weight (kg) / height (m)2 The approach used here is to first convert height in inches and feet to meters, and weight in pounds to kilograms, then use the standard metric formula for BMI. This makes it easy to collect height and weight in commonly used units (in the United States), and also shows the metric amounts used in the calculation. The main challenge in this example is that most people in the United States still use the US customary measurement system to record height and weight, not the metric system. The first step, therefore, is to capture this information in commonly used units. This is done in columns B (feet) C (inches) and D (pounds). Then, to calculate height in meters, we use the CONVERT function twice in cell F5: The first CONVERT converts feet to meters: The second converts inches to meters: Then the two values are simply added together to get a total height in meters. To calculate weight in kilograms, we use CONVERT again in cell G5: Finally, we are ready to apply the standard BMI formula. The formula in H5 is: To square height, we use Excel’s operator for exponentiation, the caret (^).
Alternatives
The formulas used above can be simplified somewhat. To calculate height, we can use a single CONVERT function like this: In other words, we convert feet to inches directly inside CONVERT’s number argument. When Excel evaluates the formula, this operation happens before the CONVERT function runs. Not quite as readable, but more compact. Note: Excel’s order of operations makes it unnecessary to wrap B5*12 in parentheses. Similarly, we could convert inches to feet inside CONVERT like this: The result is the same as above. The key point is that you are free to nest other calculations directly in a function argument. As an alternative to the caret (^), the POWER function can be used to raise to a power like this:
Dave Bruns
Hi - I’m Dave Bruns, and I run Exceljet with my wife, Lisa. Our goal is to help you work faster in Excel. We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.
