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Body mass index

The body mass index (BMI) or Quetelet Index is a quotient of body mass which takes into account both height and weight measured as kg/m2, and is used as a simple means of classifying sedentary individuals into groups in relation to their body mass.

It was originally developed between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath, Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing "social physics".

Despite its age, is still used today by government health bodies to see trends in health and illness..

For more information about the topic Body mass index, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

Note: This page refers to an article that is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the article Body mass index at Wikipedia.org. See the Wikipedia copyright page for more details.

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