The National Institutes of Health guidelines suggest that

Chapter 4, Problem 4.4.1.

(choose chapter or problem)

The National Institutes of Health guidelines suggest that adults over 20 should have a body mass index, or BMI, under 25. This index is created according to the formula a. Given that 1 kilogram 2.2 pounds, and 1 meter 39.37 inches, calculate the body mass index of President Obama, who is 61tall and in 2010 weighed 180 pounds. According to the guidelines, how would you describe his weight? b. Most Americans dont use the metric system. So in order to make the BMI easier to use, convert the formula to an BMI 5 weight in kilograms (height in meters)2 4.4 Converting Units 241 equivalent one using weight in pounds and height in inches. Check your new formula by using President Obamas weight and height, and confirm that you get the same BMI. c. An article about weight gain in a prominent U.S. newspaper tells readers how to estimate their body mass index. In order to do so, the author of the article directs readers to convert their weight in pounds into kilograms by multiplying pounds by 0.45. Then they are told to find their height in inches and convert it to meters by multiplying inches by 0.0254. The author tells them to take that number and multiply it by itself, then divide the results into their weight in kilograms. Can you do a better job of describing the process? d. A college professor reads the article on weight gain mentioned in part c of this exercise and writes a letter to the newspaper in response. The professor argues that the math used in the article makes calculating BMI unnecessarily complicated. Instead, a simple formula is all thats needed. He says that readers just need to multiply their weight in pounds by 703 and then divide by the square of their height (in inches). If the resulting number is higher than 25, then the reader is overweight. Is the author of this letter correct? 2