Is a BMI of 24 Good or Bad? (For a Woman and a Man)

While a BMI of 24 is nearing the overweight category, it’s still within the normal, a healthy BMI for men and women alike.

But as you’re about to learn, BMI scores aren’t particularly valuable for people in the normal range because body mass index as a screening tool doesn’t take into account a person’s body composition.

How Does Your BMI Stack Up?

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Is a 24 BMI good or bad for women?

Is a 24 BMI good for women? Yes, a BMI of 24 is good for women because it’s nearly six BMI points lower than average for a woman, meaning that a female with a 24 BMI likely has, at the very least, a fairly slim body.

Yet, for body mass index scores under 30, BMI isn’t a particularly useful tool. ^[1] Why?

Because your BMI score—even if it’s “healthy”—doesn’t measure your body fat or muscle mass. So you could plausibly have abdominal obesity (an excessively large waist) while still having a normal BMI.

On the other hand, you could register a high BMI while having a low body fat percentage and plenty of muscle mass.

So, by all means, use BMI as a way to gauge your body size, but don’t use it to evaluate your health.

Is a BMI of 24 good for men?

Is a BMI of 24 good for men? A BMI of 24 is good for a man because a 24 BMI reading is much lower than average for a man. Indeed, many males who have a BMI of 24 have lots of muscle mass and very little body fat.

Of course, some men who have a body mass index of 24 also have too much body fat and/or too little muscle mass. This is the main limitation of BMI; it tells you nothing about your body composition when your BMI is in the normal range.

Sure, if you have a really high BMI, then you’re pretty much guaranteed to have excess body fat and abdominal obesity. But within the normal range, people can have a wide variety of different body types while all sharing an identical BMI.

So make sure to measure your waist and other body parts if you want to get an accurate picture of the physical makeup of your physique.

What does a 24 BMI really look like?

A woman checking to see if she has a BMI of 24

As mentioned, since people can have an identical BMI while having vastly different physiques, it’s not possible to say categorically that a BMI of 24 will look like this or that.

Still, there are a few general body types that people with a body mass index of twenty-four typically have.

For example, if you’re a weight lifter, you might have a low body fat percentage and a sizable amount of muscle mass.

On the other hand, someone who’s completely sedentary might have a 24 BMI due to their skinny fat physique (not much muscle but quite a lot of body fat).

This is usually called sarcopenic obesity because the individual has minimal muscle mass (sarcopenia) but more body fat than usual (obesity).

Similarly, you could have a body that lies between these two physiques; sufficient muscle mass and a somewhat low body fat level.

What are some common BMI 24 scores?

Here are the BMI 24 scores that you’re likely to receive when you put your weight and height into a body mass index calculator.

24.1 BMI

A BMI of 24.1 means that your body weight is considered healthy. Obviously, whether this is the case in reality heavily depends on how much muscle and fat you’re carrying.

24.2 BMI

If your BMI is 24.2, then you’re still within the healthy weight category, but not by much. If you’re fairly lean, then this isn’t a cause for concern because there are many healthy and muscular people who have a BMI that’s higher than 24.2.

24.3 BMI

Those with a BMI of 24.3 are widely considered to have a normal body weight even though they’re on the upper end of the healthy range. Again, how healthy a 24.3 BMI is depends on your body composition.

24.4 BMI

A 24.4 BMI is much lower than average for both men and women. But this is only because the average person is, unfortunately for them, carrying a lot of excess body fat.

24.5 BMI

If you’ve got a 24.5 BMI, then you likely have an average body type or, if you’re very lean, perhaps a rather muscular physique. Either way, most people who have a BMI of 24.5 don’t need to worry about their weight unless they easily gain fat (which could push them into the overweight category).

24.6 BMI

A BMI of 24.6 is on the upper end of the normal classification for body max index scores. So you could say that someone with a 24.6 BMI is in danger of becoming overweight.

24.7 BMI

If you have a BMI of 24.7, then you’re likely neither thin nor fat, although your body composition more than your BMI will certainly influence what kind of body you have (i.e., muscular, lean, chubby, slim.)

24.8 BMI

A BMI of 24.8 is still within the normal range but not by much. If you have quite a lot of body fat and a 24.8 BMI, then you might want to reduce your body weight a bit so that you don’t become overweight.

24.9 BMI

A 24.9 BMI is the highest body mass index score that is still considered healthy. As such, if you have quite a lot of body fat, especially around your waist, then your health will likely improve if you shed some weight.

The verdict: Is a BMI of 24 considered healthy for males and females?

Even though it’s on the upper end of the healthy body mass index range, a BMI of 24 is still considered healthy for men and women.

However, to get a more accurate picture of your physical health and body composition, it’s important to take skinfold and circumference measurements so that you can assess your adiposity.

For example, if you have a 24 BMI but a really large waist, then you will likely need to lose fat and gain muscle mass.

On the contrary, if you have a low body fat percentage and a BMI of 24, then you likely don’t need to lose weight at all.

References

Frankenfield, D. C., Rowe, W. A., Cooney, R. N., Smith, J. S., & Becker, D. (2001). Limits of body mass index to detect obesity and predict body composition. Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.), 17(1), 26–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0899-9007(00)00471-8
Aune, D., Sen, A., Prasad, M., Norat, T., Janszky, I., Tonstad, S., Romundstad, P., & Vatten, L. J. (2016). BMI and all cause mortality: systematic review and non-linear dose-response meta-analysis of 230 cohort studies with 3.74 million deaths among 30.3 million participants. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 353, i2156. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i2156