ESTIMATING THE DESIRABLE BODY WEIGHT (DBW)
INTRODUCTION
Desirable body weight (DBW) depends on your gender, height, and body frame size. Reaching and maintaining a
healthy body weight is important for overall health. If a person is overweight or obese, then he/she has higher risk of
developing serious health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, breathing
problems, and certain cancers.
OBJECTIVES
Ath the end of the exercise, the students should be able to:
Execute the proper procedure in measuring the weight and height of older children and adults;
Appreciate the significance of computing estimated desirable body weight;
Calculate the Desirable Body Weight (DBW) or Ideal Body Weight (IBW) and its corresponding percentage
PROCEDURE
A. Find a partner and measure his/her weight and height following the steps below:
MEASURING WEIGHT FOR OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS
Note: Weight should be taken preferably after the bladder has been emptied and before a meal. The time at
which the measurement is made should be noted because of diurnal variations in weight occur.
The scale should be placed on hard surface and should be checked for zero-balance before each use and
whenever it is moved to another location.
The subject should stand unassisted, in the center of the platform, and be asked to look straight ahead,
standing relaxed.
Ask the subject to remove his/her accessories such as belt, watch and other heavy accessories, shoes or
sandals, and slippers. The weight of the garments should be recorded for later subtraction. Standard correction
for clothing should not be used.
Any signs of visible edema should be noted.
Body weight should be recorded to the nearest 0.1kg
Ask the subject to stand looking forward straight ahead with Frankfurt plane horizontal, feet together, knees
straight and heels, buttocks and shoulder blades in contact with the vertical surface of the stadiometer,
anthropometer or wall.
The arms of the subject should be hanging loosely at the sides with palms facing the thighs. The head is not
necessarily in contact with the vertical surface.
Ask the subject to take a deep breath and stand tall to aid the straightening of the spine. Shoulders should be
relaxed.
The movable rod is then gently lowered until it touches the crown of the head.
The height measurement is taken in maximum inspiration, with the examiner’s eye level with the headboard
to avoid parallel error. Height is recorded to the nearest millimeter. If the reading falls between within five
millimeters (Lohman et. al., 1988)
B. Record the above data and compute the estimated Desirable Body Weight using any formula below:
Tannhauser’s Method
Step1: Convert height to centimeters
Step 2: Subtract 100 to height in centimeters
Step 3: Subtract 10% to the total of step 2 to get the DBW
• One inch equals to 2.54 centimeters. So to make the conversion, simply multiply your height in inches (2.54)
• One foot is equal to 12 inches. To convert 5 feet to inches, multiply 5x12. The answer tells you that 5 feet is equal
to 60 inches.
DBW (kg)= (Height in centimeter-100)-10%
EXAMPLE:
The height of the male patient is 5feet 6inches.
5feet 6inches= 66 inches multiply to 2.54 = 167.64cm
167.64-100= 67.64
67.64-10%= 60.87 or 61kgs
DBW: 61kgs
NDAP Formula
NDAP method for estimating DBW
For adult females, allow 106lbs for 5ft. height. For each additional inch, add 4lbs
For adult males, use 112lbs for 5ft height and add 4lbs for each additional inch taller.
The values above apply to adults with medium frame. To adjust for frame, deduct 10% for small frame
and add 10% for large frame.
EXAMPLE: For an adult female, with height of 5ft., 6inches
106lbs plus 24lbs= 136lbs DBW
For adult male of the same height
112lbs plus 24lbs= 136lbs DBW
Note: For every inch short of 5 feet, subtract 4lbs. So an adult woman with a height of 4ft., 10 inches has a
DBW of 98lbs (106lbs minus 8lbs=98lbs), while an adult man of the same height has a DBW of 104 lbs
(112lbs minus 8lbs=104lbs)
Hamwi method
IBW for males= 106lbs for 5ft plus 6lbs per inch above 5ft
IBW for females= 100lbs for 5ft plus 5lbs per inch over 5ft
Add 10% for large frame. Subtract 10% for small frame.
WOMEN:
100lbs for every 5ft
5lbs for every inch thereafter
MEN:
106lbs for the first 5 feet
6lbs for each inch thereafter
Small frame: Subtract 10%
Large frame: Add 10%
Examples:
A Filipina with height of 5’3
5 feet =100lbs
3inches 5lbs x 3inches = 15
DBW: 115lbs
A Filipino with height of 5’4
5 feet =106lbs
3 inches 6lbs x 4inches = 24lbs
DBW: 130lbs
C. Compute the percent of IBW or DBW
% of IBW Current weight x 100
Ideal weight
A weight of 20% or more above ideal weight due to accumulation of body fat is an indication of obesity but those
individuals that are engaged with sports and other physical activities who could be overweight but developed
lean muscles are not obese (Ruiz et.al, 2010)
% IBW (Ideal Body Weight) Classification
>200 Morbidity Obese
150-200 Severely Obese
120-149 Obese
110-119 Overweight
90-109 Normal
80-89 Mildly Underweight
70-79 Moderately Underweight
<70 Severely Underweight
BODY MASS INDEX (BMI)
• According to Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI, 1994), the BMI of a male must 22 and female is 20.8
• HOW TO GET THE BMI?
• Example: The height of the female patient is 5 feet.
STEP1: Convert height to meters. 1ft is equals to 0.3048meters.
5ft x 0.3048= 1.524 meters
STEP2: Multiply desirable BMI to square of height in meters
DBW = Desirable BMI x H (m x m)
DBW= 20.8 x (1.524 x 1.524)= 20.8 x 2.32
20.8 x 2.32= 48.31kg
DBW of female that has 5 feet height is 48kg.
BMI CLASSIFICATION
< 18.5 UNDERWEIGHT
18.5-24.9 NORMAL WEIGHT
25.0-29.9 OVERWEIGHT
30.0-34.9 OBESE TYPE 1
35.0-39.0 OBESE TYPE 2
>40.0 OBESE TYPE 3
o BMI FORMULA
Below are the equations used for calculating BMI in the International system of Units (SI) and the US
Customary System (USC) using 5’10, 160lbs as an example:
USC Units:
BMI=703 x mass (lbs)/ height2(inches)
= 703 x 160/702
= 703 x 160/4,900
= 22.96kg/m2
SI, Metric Units:
BMI= mass(kg)/height2 (m)
= 72.57/1.782
=22.90kg/m2
