Ideal Weight Calculator
Estimate a healthy body weight from height and sex using the Devine, Robinson, Miller, and Hamwi formulas, alongside the healthy-BMI range.
Comment utiliser cette calculatrice
- 1Enter your sex and height.
- 2Read the average of the four clinical formulas, and — more usefully — the healthy weight range from BMI.
- 3Treat these as rough references, not targets; body composition matters more than any single number.
Comment ça marche
Ideal body weight formulas
each is a base weight plus an amount per inch over 5 feet (60 in) Devine (men): 50 kg + 2.3 kg × (inches − 60) Devine (women): 45.5 kg + 2.3 kg × (inches − 60) Robinson, Miller, Hamwi use different constants healthy BMI range: 18.5 to 24.9 × height² (m)
The classic ideal-weight formulas all share a structure: a base weight at five feet of height, plus a fixed amount for every inch above that. They were devised in the 1970s and 1980s, mostly to standardise medication doses, and they differ only in their constants — which is why they give answers several kilograms apart for the same person. The healthy-BMI range, derived from height alone, is the modern reference for a healthy weight and is shown alongside them.
Exemple détaillé
A 5'10" (178 cm) man is 10 inches over five feet. The Devine formula gives 50 + 2.3 × 10 = 73 kg (161 lb); the four formulas together average about 76 kg, and the healthy BMI range for that height is roughly 59–79 kg.
Ideal Weight Calculator : le guide complet
Why there are four formulas that disagree
Ideal body weight is not a scientific constant but a set of rules of thumb, and the four best-known ones — Devine (1974), Robinson (1983), Miller (1983), and Hamwi (1964) — were each fitted to different data and purposes. They all follow the same shape, a base weight plus an increment per inch of height, but with different constants, so they can differ by five kilograms or more for the same person. None is 'correct'; they are competing estimates.
Most were created not to advise individuals on health but to standardise drug dosing, where a consistent weight estimate from height alone is useful for calculating doses of medications with a narrow safe range. That clinical origin is why they persist in medicine, and why they should be read as approximate references rather than personal goals.
The BMI range is usually the better guide
For judging whether your weight is healthy, the BMI-based range shown here is more meaningful than any single ideal-weight formula. It gives a span — the weights corresponding to a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 for your height — rather than one number, which better reflects the reality that a range of weights is healthy for any given height.
That said, BMI has well-known limitations: it uses only height and weight, so it cannot distinguish muscle from fat. A muscular athlete can have a BMI in the 'overweight' range while carrying very little fat, and an inactive person can sit in the 'healthy' range while carrying too much. BMI works as a population screen and a rough personal guide, but it is not a body-composition measurement.
What these numbers leave out
Every formula here depends on just height and sex, which means they ignore the things that actually make one healthy weight different from another: muscle mass, bone density, frame size, and fat distribution. Two people of identical height can have healthy weights ten kilograms apart because one is broad-framed and muscular and the other slight.
This is why 'ideal weight' is best treated as a ballpark, not a target to chase. A more useful picture comes from combining several measures — body-fat percentage, waist circumference, and how you feel and function — rather than optimising a single number from a height-based formula. If a figure here suggests you are far from a healthy range, it is a prompt to look closer, not a verdict on its own.
Questions fréquentes
What is my ideal weight for my height?
There is no single answer — it is a range. Enter your height above for estimates from four clinical formulas and, more usefully, the healthy weight range from BMI (18.5–24.9). For most people that BMI range is the better reference.
Which ideal weight formula is most accurate?
None is definitively 'accurate' — they were rules of thumb built for different purposes, mostly medication dosing, and they disagree by several kilograms. The Devine formula is the most widely used in medicine, but the BMI-based healthy range is more meaningful for judging your own weight.
Why do these ignore muscle and frame size?
Because they use only height and sex. That makes them simple but blind to body composition — a muscular person may weigh well above 'ideal' while being very healthy. For a fuller picture, combine weight with body-fat percentage and waist measurements.
Should I try to reach my 'ideal weight'?
Treat it as a rough reference, not a goal. A range of weights is healthy for any height, and factors like muscle mass and fitness matter more than hitting a specific number. If you're far outside the healthy BMI range, it's worth discussing with a clinician rather than chasing a formula.