What is a healthy weight for someone 5 ft 2 in tall?

A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 corresponds to roughly 101 to 136 pounds at this height, or 45.9 to 61.8 kilograms — a window about 35 pounds wide. Every weight inside it carries exactly the same verdict from the measure; there is no basis for preferring the middle. On the WHO cut-offs for South and East Asian populations the upper bound falls to about 125 pounds, while the lower bound is unchanged.

How much does one pound move BMI at 5 ft 2 in?

About 0.18 of a BMI point, since one pound is 703 divided by height in inches squared. That means roughly 5 pounds to move a whole point, and it is why a reading within a point of a boundary should be read as near the line rather than on one side of it. The same pound would be worth 0.20 points at five foot and 0.12 at six foot six — the measure is not equally sensitive at every height.

Does BMI treat tall people unfairly?

There is a long-standing argument that it does. Dividing by height squared was chosen because it happened to fit nineteenth-century population data, not because bodies scale that way — mass grows closer to the cube of linear size, so a taller person of identical proportions reads slightly higher. The effect is modest and real, and it is one reason waist-based measures are increasingly preferred for individuals.

How much does a pound change the number?

Very little, and less as height increases. One pound moves BMI by 703 divided by height in inches squared — about 0.20 points at five foot, 0.14 at five foot nine, and 0.12 at six foot six. So a category boundary is several pounds wide in practice, and a reading within a point of one should be treated as sitting near the line rather than on one side of it.

Are the thresholds different for Asian populations?

The WHO issued supplementary cut-offs in 2004 putting overweight at a BMI of 23 rather than 25 and obesity at 27.5 rather than 30, because the standard thresholds understate metabolic risk in South and East Asian populations at the same BMI. That lowers the top of the healthy range by about eight percent of body weight — a meaningful shift at any height, and the lower bound is unchanged.

BMI Calculator for 5'2"

At five foot two, the healthy range is about 101 to 136 pounds. Five foot two is 62 inches, which is 157.48 centimetres. Almost every calculator will round that to 157, and the rounding costs about 0.06 of a BMI point — small, but it is the reason the same person can get slightly different answers from two tools that ..

YOUR MEASUREMENTS

WEIGHT (lbs)

lbs

HEIGHT

FEET

INCHES

= 157.5 cm

YOUR RESULTS

BODY MASS INDEX

28.2

Overweight

BMI PRIME

1.13

Normal = 0.74–1.00

HEALTHY WEIGHT RANGE

101 – 136 lbs

Lose 17.8 lbs to reach healthy weight

Above healthy range. Lifestyle changes may reduce health risks.

BMI GAUGE

YOUR POSITION

FULL SUMMARY

BMI28.2

CategoryOverweight

BMI Prime1.13

Healthy range101–136 lbs

Min healthy weight101 lbs

Max healthy weight136 lbs

WHO BMI CATEGORIES

Severely Underweight

< 16.0

Underweight

16.0–18.4

Normal weight

18.5–24.9

Overweight

25.0–29.9

Obese Class I

30.0–34.9

Obese Class II

35.0–39.9

Obese Class III

≥ 40.0

Created with❤️byeaglecalculator.com

HOW TO USE

1
The height is already set to 5 ft 2 in, which is 157cm. Change it if that is not yours and everything below recalculates.
2
Enter a weight in whichever units suit you. The two systems give the same answer to about four significant figures — the imperial form uses a rounded conversion constant.
3
Read the range before the category. At this height it spans about 35 lb, and every weight inside it produces the same verdict from the measure.
4
Treat a reading near a boundary as near a boundary. Daily variation in weight and height covers a few tenths of a BMI point on its own.

WORKED EXAMPLE

At 5 ft 2 in — 62 inches, or 157cm — a BMI of 18.5 puts the lower bound at 45.9kg (101 lb) and a BMI of 24.9 puts the upper bound at 61.8kg (136 lb). The window is 15.9kg, or about 35 lb. One pound moves the number by 0.18 of a point, so it takes roughly 5 pounds to cross a whole one. On the WHO 2004 cut-offs for Asian populations the upper bound drops to 56.8kg (125 lb), with the lower bound unchanged.

REFERENCE FORMULAS

FORMULA REFERENCE TABLE

Name	Formula	Description
BMI (Metric)	BMI = weight(kg) / height(m)²	Divide weight in kg by height in metres squared
BMI (Imperial)	BMI = 703 × weight(lbs) / height(in)²	Multiply weight in pounds by 703, divide by height in inches squared
Height in metres	h(m) = h(cm) / 100	Convert centimetres to metres before squaring
BMI Prime	BMI Prime = BMI / 25	Ratio of BMI to upper limit of normal (25). Values >1.00 indicate overweight
Ponderal Index	PI = weight(kg) / height(m)³	More accurate than BMI for very tall or short individuals. Normal: 11–15 kg/m³
Healthy weight	w = BMI × height(m)²	Rearranged BMI formula: weight(kg) for any target BMI at your height

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Last updated: August 2, 2026 · Formula verified by EagleCalculator team · Source: WHO Global Database on Body Mass Index · Eagle-eyed accuracy for every calculation.