BMI (body mass index) is your weight in kilograms divided by the square of your height in metres. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m give 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) = 22.9. For adults, WHO uses these bands: below 18.5 underweight, 18.5–24.9 healthy range, 25–29.9 overweight, 30 and above obesity.

It is a simple, useful indicator for comparing groups of people, but it has known limits: it does not distinguish muscle from fat or show where fat is stored. According to NICE, people from South Asian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean backgrounds may face health risks at a lower BMI. It is not suitable during pregnancy or for under-18s.

It is your waist circumference divided by your height, both in centimetres. According to NICE (2022), below 0.5 is the reference range, 0.5–0.59 means increased health risk and 0.6 or above means higher risk. The thresholds are the same for everyone. The simple rule: keep your waist to less than half your height.

Stand up and breathe normally. Place the tape halfway between your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone and read it at the end of a normal breath out, keeping the tape level and not pulled tight. To compare over time, measure at the same time of day with the same tape.

For adults, WHO recommends 150–300 minutes a week of moderate activity, or 75–150 minutes of vigorous activity, plus muscle-strengthening activities on at least 2 days a week. It also recommends limiting time spent sitting. Any movement is better than none.

No. Your measurements and answers are processed only in your browser: no account is needed, nothing is sent to our servers and everything is cleared when you close the page. The PDF report is created by your browser’s print function.

No. Kariko is a free information tool that compares your data with public WHO and NICE references. It does not diagnose and does not provide diets, treatment or personal programmes: for health decisions, please speak to a health professional.