| Quick Answer |
| For most Indian adults, a healthy weight is a range, not one number: the weight that keeps your BMI between 18.5 and 22.9. At 165 cm, that is roughly 50 to 62 kg. Indian guidance flags risk from a BMI of 23, and a waist of 90 cm or more in men or 80 cm or more in women matters as much as the scale. |
Type “ideal weight for height” into Google and you get a tidy chart with one neat number beside your height. It looks precise. For most Indians, it quietly sets the bar too high.
Those charts were drawn from Western bodies and Western risk data. Indian adults tend to carry more fat, and more of it on the belly, at the very same weight. A figure that reads “normal” on an American chart can already sit inside the risk zone here.
Try It: Ideal Weight for Height Calculator
Enter your height in centimetres, your weight in kilograms and, if a measuring tape is handy, your waist. You get your healthy weight range on Indian BMI cut-offs, where your current weight falls, and whether your waist crosses the Indian limit for abdominal fat.
For the waist, stand straight, breathe out normally and wrap a non-stretch tape just above your hip bones, ideally before breakfast. That is the method described in the 2025 revised definition of obesity in Asian Indians.
Prefer to do the maths yourself? Multiply your height in metres by itself, then by 18.5 and by 22.9. A 1.60 m woman gets 2.56, so her healthy range runs from 47.4 kg to 58.6 kg.
Ideal Weight for Height Chart for Indians
The table uses the Indian BMI bands from the 2009 Indian consensus statement and its 2025 revision. BMI cut-offs are the same for men and women, so the weight ranges are shared.
| Height (cm) | Healthy range (kg), BMI 18.5 to 22.9 | Risk begins (kg), BMI 23 | Obesity line, 2009 criteria (kg), BMI 25 | Waist limit by height (cm), ratio 0.5 |
| 145 | 38.9 to 48.1 | 48.4 | 52.6 | 72.5 |
| 150 | 41.6 to 51.5 | 51.8 | 56.2 | 75.0 |
| 155 | 44.4 to 55.0 | 55.3 | 60.1 | 77.5 |
| 160 | 47.4 to 58.6 | 58.9 | 64.0 | 80.0 |
| 165 | 50.4 to 62.3 | 62.6 | 68.1 | 82.5 |
| 170 | 53.5 to 66.2 | 66.5 | 72.2 | 85.0 |
| 175 | 56.7 to 70.1 | 70.4 | 76.6 | 87.5 |
| 180 | 59.9 to 74.2 | 74.5 | 81.0 | 90.0 |
| 185 | 63.3 to 78.4 | 78.7 | 85.6 | 92.5 |
| 190 | 66.8 to 82.7 | 83.0 | 90.2 | 95.0 |
What differs by sex is the waist. Indian criteria mark abdominal obesity at 90 cm or more for men and 80 cm or more for women. The last column adds a second test from the 2025 guidance, a waist-to-height ratio above 0.5, which simply means your waist should stay under half your height.
The two tests do not always agree. A 175 cm man with an 89 cm waist passes the men’s limit but sits above half his height. Indian criteria accept either measure as a sign of excess belly fat, so he should not shrug it off.
Why the Chart You Found Is Probably Wrong
Most online “ideal weight” figures trace back to old American insurance height and weight tables, or to the Devine formula of 1974. A review titled The Origin of the “Ideal” Body Weight Equations explains that these equations spread largely because they helped hospitals calculate drug doses.
None of that was designed to tell an adult in Pune or Patna what to weigh. The formula even adds a fixed amount for every inch above five feet, which tells you where it was born.
Western BMI vs Asian-Indian cut-offs
Western charts call a BMI up to 24.9 normal. In 2004, a WHO expert consultation on BMI for Asian populations found that a substantial share of Asians face high risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease below 25, and proposed public health action points starting at 23.
India went further. The 2009 consensus set 23 to 24.9 as overweight and 25 as obesity. The 2025 revision by Misra and colleagues, published in Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews, treats a BMI above 23 as obesity itself, then stages it by belly fat and by whether weight is already affecting health.
Why so strict? One famous comparison explains it. In The Y-Y paradox, published in The Lancet, Indian diabetes researcher Chittaranjan Yajnik and British professor John Yudkin shared a BMI of 22.3, yet Yajnik carried more than twice the body fat.
That is the thin-fat Indian: normal on the scale, heavier underneath.
Frame size, muscle and age
Even a correct Indian chart cannot see what you are made of. BMI does not separate bone, muscle and fat, and the 2025 Indian guidance names this as a core limitation.
A 70 kg kabaddi player and a 70 kg accountant of the same height share a BMI. They do not share a risk profile. If you lift weights, a BMI of 24 may mean little; if you sit through most of the day, a BMI of 22 may hide more fat than you would guess.
Age shifts the picture too. Muscle tends to fall and fat tends to rise over the years while total weight holds steady, so your BMI at 55 can match your BMI at 30 and describe a very different body.
Frame-size tweaks based on wrist width are popular online. Our view: measure your waist instead. It answers the same question more directly.
Weight vs Body Composition: What to Target
Weight tells you how heavy you are. Body fat percentage tells you how much of that is fat, which sits closer to what affects blood sugar, blood pressure and liver health.
For urban Asian Indians, a study by Joseph and colleagues on adiposity cut-offs linked cardiovascular risk factors to body fat above 25.5% in men and 38% in women. The 2025 Indian obesity criteria use those same cut-offs.
There is a catch. Most people check body fat on a smart scale or gym machine, and those readings can swing with hydration and meal timing. Use one device, at the same time of day, and follow the trend rather than any single reading.
So what should you track? Start with your waist, because it costs nothing and tracks risk closely in Indians. Use BMI to find your range, and body fat if you can measure it consistently. A single goal weight is the least useful of the lot.
How to Set a Realistic Goal Weight
Set your goal from where you stand, not from the bottom of a chart. At 165 cm and 82 kg, the chart says 62 kg. That 20 kg gap is daunting, and it is the wrong first target.
Give yourself a weight range, a waist goal and a timeline. A loss of 0.5 to 1 kg a week is the pace the 2025 Indian guidance describes as safe and effective.
Expect plateaus, and expect festive stretches like Diwali or wedding season to slow things down. Plan for them instead of starting over after them.
The 5–10% first goal
The most useful first milestone is losing 5 to 10% of your current weight. In the Look AHEAD analysis of modest weight loss, adults with type 2 diabetes who lost 5 to under 10% saw better blood sugar, blood pressure, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol within a year. Those who lost more gained more.
The 2025 Indian guidance adds that a 5 to 10% loss can substantially lower the odds of prediabetes progressing to type 2 diabetes.
For our 82 kg reader, that is 4 to 8 kg. A far more reachable target, and it moves the numbers your doctor actually watches.
Normal BMI, High Waist: What to Do
This is the pattern that catches Indians off guard. NFHS-5 measured waist size nationally for the first time, and an analysis of NFHS-5 abdominal obesity data in The Lancet Regional Health: Southeast Asia found it in 40% of women and 12% of men aged 15 to 49, including some women with a normal BMI.
Among adults, the ICMR-INDIAB-17 national study found generalised obesity in 28.6% but abdominal obesity in 39.5%. That gap of more than ten points is a lot of people whose belly the scale never flags.
If this sounds like you, ask your doctor for the tests the 2025 guidance lists in an obesity workup, including HbA1c or a glucose tolerance test, a lipid profile and liver function tests.
Then aim at the waist, not the scale. The Indian guidance recommends muscle-strengthening work on at least three days a week alongside aerobic activity, which helps hold on to muscle while fat comes off.
On the plate, carbohydrate intake in Indian diets runs high, as the guidance notes. Trading the third roti or the evening biscuits with chai for dal, chana, paneer, curd or eggs tilts meals toward protein without needing a strict plan.
Measure your waist once a month. A shrinking tape with a steady scale is progress, not a stall.
When to Talk to a Doctor About Your Weight
Book an appointment if your BMI is 23 or more and your waist crosses the Indian limit, or if diabetes or early heart disease runs in your family.
Also go if you notice signs the 2025 guidance ties to weight: breathlessness or palpitations during daily tasks, knee or hip pain, or dark, velvety skin at the back of the neck, called acanthosis nigricans, which can point to insulin resistance.
Women with PCOS, and anyone already managing blood pressure, cholesterol or fatty liver, deserve a proper assessment rather than a chart.
A doctor can check what the scale cannot and tell you whether lifestyle changes are enough or medical support fits. Have that conversation early, while the choices are widest.
| Conclusion |
| A healthy weight for Indian adults is a range: a BMI of 18.5 to 22.9, not one number off a chart. Western charts start risk at 25. Indian guidance flags it from 23, because Indians carry more fat at the same BMI. Your waist counts as much as your weight: under 90 cm for men, under 80 cm for women, and under half your height. Make 5 to 10% of your current weight the first goal, and see a doctor if your waist is high even when your BMI looks fine. |
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the ideal weight for my height?
For Indian adults, it is the weight range that keeps your BMI between 18.5 and 22.9. Multiply your height in metres by itself, then by 18.5 and 22.9. At 160 cm that gives 47.4 to 58.6 kg; at 175 cm, 56.7 to 70.1 kg. Check your waist too, because a healthy weight with a high waist still carries risk.
2. Do Indian ideal weight ranges differ?
Yes. Western charts treat a BMI up to 24.9 as normal. Indian guidance ends the healthy range at 22.9, flags risk from 23 and sets waist limits of 90 cm for men and 80 cm for women. For a 170 cm adult, that lowers the top of the healthy range from roughly 72 kg to roughly 66 kg.
3. Should I aim for a number on the scale?
Treat the scale as one guide, not the goal. For Indians, waist size and body fat percentage say more about health risk than weight alone. A sound target combines a weight range, a waist below your limit and below half your height, and steady progress. If fat drops while weight holds, that still counts.
4. How do I set a realistic goal weight?
Start with losing 5 to 10% of your current weight, at 0.5 to 1 kg a week. That first step improves blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol in many adults. Once you reach it, reassess against the Indian BMI range and your waist, and set the next target from there.
5. What if my BMI is normal but my waist is high?
Then weight is not the whole story. Indian guidance treats a waist of 90 cm or more in men and 80 cm or more in women as abdominal obesity, which is linked to diabetes and heart risk even at a normal BMI. Ask your doctor for blood sugar, lipid and liver tests, add strength training and track your waist monthly.
| Medical Disclaimer |
| This article is for general education and does not replace medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Healthy weight targets vary with age, pregnancy, health conditions and medicines. Speak to a qualified doctor before making major changes to your diet, activity or treatment. |
