BMI

a measurement derived from a patients height and weight to determine whether a patients weight is within the normal range

weight (kg) / height (M2) units-kg/m2

-estimate body fat -determine overall fitness, and risk of developing chronic disease -change in BMI can be used to measure deterioration or improvement in clinical condtions

-important to measure height accurately -always use patients current height -if patient is unable to stand, assess height by alternate method and record

-outer clothing -shoes -hair clips -undone hair/ no braids -orthopaedic brace

-feet together -feet flat on the floor -heels touching the back of plate -straight legs -buttocks against the wall -scapula against wall -arms loose at the sides

-with the lower margins of the orbit in the same horizontal plane as the external auditory meati (corner of eyes horizontal to ear)

-full arm span -demi arm span -ulna length

-measure finger tip to finger tip -mark on wall and measure distance between -estimate standing height by dividing the measurment by 1.03 for males and 1.01 for women

-outstretched arms, palms forward , from base of the middle finger to the sternal notch using a non stretch tape measure women-height = (1.35 x demi span cm)+ 60.1 male height =(1.4x demi span cm) + 57.8

-arm bent up across the chest preferably left side, palm flat across chest, fingers pointing to opposite shoulder -length from point of elbow to mid point of prominent bone of the wrist using a tape measure

-check patient can stand unsupported -ask patients to remove outer clothing and shoes -patients pockets should be emptied -patient should step on scale -make sure patient is unsupported whilst weight is measured -allow measurement to stabilise -record weight, patient step off scale -clean scales after use