Ideal Weight Calculator

This calculator uses the Devine formula: for men, Ideal Weight = 50 kg + 2.3 kg for every inch of height over 5 feet; for women, Ideal Weight = 45.5 kg + 2.3 kg for every inch over 5 feet. A 178 cm (5'10") man has an estimated ideal weight of 73.18 kg. Devine originally published this formula in 1974 to help estimate drug dosing weight, and it later became the most widely used ideal body weight equation in general clinical practice.

Several other published formulas exist besides Devine - Hamwi (1964), Robinson (1983), and Miller (1983) are the other most commonly cited ones - and they were each derived from different clinical datasets and assumptions about average body composition, so they typically scatter by about 5-10 lb (roughly 2-4.5 kg) for the same height and gender. A peer-reviewed comparison of these equations against published height-weight tables found no single formula is definitively "more correct" than the others; this calculator uses Devine specifically because it is the most widely cited in clinical practice today.

No - "ideal weight" from a formula like Devine is a general reference point, not a precise individual target, since it cannot account for muscle mass, bone density, body frame size, or overall body composition. Two people of the same height and gender can have very different healthy weights depending on these factors, which is why this result is best treated as a starting reference alongside other measures, not a strict goal to hit exactly.

The BMI Calculator classifies a weight you already have into a category (underweight, healthy, overweight, obese); this calculator instead starts from your height and gender alone and produces one specific target number using a named clinical formula, without requiring you to enter a current weight at all. The two approaches can give a similar general range, but BMI describes a category you fall into today, while this calculator answers the reverse question - what a formula-based reference weight looks like for your height.

No - the Devine formula estimates a reference weight from height and gender only, the same way the other established ideal-weight formulas do, and has no way to account for how much of that weight would be muscle versus fat. Two people who both weigh their Devine ideal weight can have very different body compositions; the Body Fat Calculator on this site estimates that separately, using your actual weight, height, age, and gender.

Once you have a reference target weight from this calculator, the BMR Calculator and Calorie Calculator on this site can estimate the resting and total daily calories associated with reaching or maintaining a weight in that range, by entering that target as the weight value on either calculator. This calculator itself does not compute calorie needs, since it works in the opposite direction - from height and gender to a target weight, not from a current weight to an energy requirement.

Unlike BMI, BMR, Calorie, or Body Fat, this calculator is not evaluating a weight you already have - it is estimating a reference target weight from scratch, and the Devine formula it uses is defined entirely in terms of height and gender, with no age or current-weight term. This is a deliberate difference in what the calculator does, not a missing feature: entering your current weight or age would not change a formula that does not use them.

Yes - switch the calculator to US units and enter your height in feet and inches instead of centimetres. Your input is converted to the units the Devine formula uses before calculating, so the result is the same either way. The headline result is always shown in kilograms (the standard clinical convention), with a pound equivalent alongside it and a full kilogram-and-pound comparison table for all four formulas.

The most widely used answer is the weight range that corresponds to a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 for your height, which this calculator shows alongside the formula results. It is a range rather than a single number - for a person around 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) it spans roughly 57 to 76 kg (125 to 168 lb). Where you sit within it depends on your muscle mass, frame, and body fat percentage, not just your height.

A quick estimate: wrap the thumb and middle finger of one hand around the wrist of the other. If they overlap, you are small-framed; if they just touch, medium-framed; if they do not meet, large-framed. A large-framed person can healthily weigh 10 to 15 pounds more than a small-framed person of the same height. The ideal-weight formulas do not adjust for frame, so a large-framed person landing above the calculated figure is not necessarily overweight.

Somewhat. The formulas were built in the 1960s to 1980s from insurance and military data, mainly to standardise medication dosing, and they ignore muscle, body fat, frame size, and where you carry weight - all of which matter more for health than total weight alone. They are still a useful rough reference, especially as a range, but a healthy BMI band, your body fat percentage, and your waist measurement are better guides for setting an actual goal.