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Why is a BMI of 42 morbidly obese?

Why is a BMI of 42 morbidly obese?

While you can certainly be happy with your body while having a high BMI, you simply can’t live life in good health while having a BMI of 42.

To be sure, your muscle mass and body frame can certainly increase your body mass index score. However, lean mass alone doesn’t account for a BMI as high as forty-two because it’s over 10 points higher than the almost-obese average BMI for men and women.

Therefore, if you have a 42 BMI, then your first physical priority should be bringing your body weight down into a healthy range.

How Does Your BMI Compare?

Is a BMI of 42 morbidly obese?

A man with a BMI of 42 getting his stomach measured

Is a BMI of 42 morbidly obese? Yes, a BMI of 42 is considered morbidly obese, although a body mass index of 42 is more commonly referred to as class 3 obesity.

You may also hear a body mass index of 42 being called severe obesity.

This generally means that a person has a lot of body fat, even for someone who is obese.

When you consider that abdominal obesity is especially bad—and when you realize that abdominal obesity can occur in normal BMI ranges—you begin to see that a 42 BMI could be seriously harming your health.

Why should males and females with a 42 BMI lose weight?

A BMI 42 woman getting a checkup

Anyone who has a BMI of 42 and wants to improve their health will need to lose weight. That’s a fact.

However, if you haven’t exercised in a while, you don’t want to risk injury or health complications by running off to the gym right away.

First, you should go to your doctor for a medical examination. After that, they might refer you to a nutritionist or dietician so that they can put you on the path to slimming success by formulating a weight loss plan that will work for you.

Maintaining a 42 BMI may lead to chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, etc.) in the long run if left untreated. That’s why it’s important to take action before your BMI gets even higher, at which point losing weight will naturally become a longer and more challenging process.

Common BMI 42 results

The formula for calculating BMI

Here is a complete list of all the BMI 42 results with a brief overview of their obesity significance.

42.1 BMI

If you have a BMI of 42.1, then you’re comfortably into the class 3 obesity category, which is commonly called morbid or severe obesity.

42.2 BMI

Those with a BMI of 42.2 are putting their health in jeopardy by maintaining a dangerously high body weight. 

42.3 BMI

A 42.3 BMI is around 12-13 BMI points higher than average for adult men and women and, as such, is a strong indication that someone is suffering from severe obesity.

42.4 BMI

If you’ve got a 42.4 BMI, then your body mass index is high to the point where it’s likely a hazard to your health. This is because high BMIs are highly correlated with overall body fatness and abdominal obesity.

42.5 BMI

If you have a BMI of 42.5, then you’ll need to lower your body weight significantly if you want to regain your health. Those with a 42.5 BMI will need to lower their calorie intake and perform regular exercise in order to trigger weight loss.

42.6 BMI

A 42.6 BMI is much higher than average (and the average is already much too high). As such, if you have a BMI of 42.6, you’ll need to undergo medically-supervised weight loss in order to improve your health and body composition.

42.7 BMI

Those who have a BMI of 42.7 are almost certainly suffering from abdominal obesity. This is dangerous because excess abdominal fat often means visceral fat, which is an internal fat that wraps around your organs and causes disease.

42.8 BMI

People with a BMI of 42.8 are in the class 3 obesity category and will need to reduce their body weight if they want to live life in better health.

42.9 BMI

A 42.9 BMI is a strong indicator that a person is carrying too much body fat on their frame. As mentioned, this can be particularly hazardous to health if a large amount of this fat is stored around their waist.

The reason why a 42 BMI is bad for your health

Since BMI is just a screening tool, it can’t diagnose obesity. As such, you can have a variety of body mass index scores and still have way too much body fat.

Of course, the higher your BMI score, the more likely you are to have excess body fat.

And while you can be perfectly fine with how your body looks at a BMI of 42, you simply can’t walk around at such a high body mass index while enjoying anything remotely close to good health.