Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 14, 1995                   TAG: 9509140079
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FIGURE UP YOUR INDEX

A study in today's New England Journal of Medicine concludes that thinner is usually better. Figuring out where you stand requires calculating a number for comparing people with different heights.

This number, called the body-mass index, is your weight in kilograms divided by the square of your height in meters.

Here's how you figure it out: First, multiply your weight in pounds by .45 to get kilograms. Next convert your height to inches. Multiply this number by .0254 to get meters. Multiply that number by itself. Then divide this into your weight in kilograms.

Your answer will probably be a number in the 20s or low 30s. It is your body-mass index.

The study found that middle-aged women whose body-mass indexes were below 19 had the lowest risk of death.

For an index between 19 and 24.9, it was 20 percent higher.

Between 25 and 26.9, it was 30 percent higher.

Between 27 and 28.9, it was 60 percent higher.

Over 29, it was double.

- Associated Press