Health · 6 min read · Last updated September 2026
Built in 1974 to dose medication, not to set fitness goals. Example: a 5′10″ (70-inch) man: 50 + 2.3 × 10 = 73.0 kg; a 5′10″ woman: 45.5 + 23 = 68.5 kg. It ignores muscle, age and frame entirely — that is a feature for drug dosing and a limitation for everything else.
At 1.75 m: 18.5 × 3.0625 = 56.7 kg up to 24.9 × 3.0625 = 76.3 kg — a 20-kilogram-wide band. The BMI range is broader than Devine precisely because bodies vary more than a dosing formula can express.
| Method | 5′10″ male | Answers the question |
|---|---|---|
| Devine | 73.0 kg | "What does a population-average body of this height weigh?" |
| Healthy BMI | 56.7–76.3 kg | "What range is statistically associated with lower health risk?" |
Use the range for context, not a target to hit exactly. A muscular 78 kg person at 1.75 m sits above the BMI band but is not unhealthy; a sedentary 70 kg person inside it may carry more risk than the number suggests. Pair the result with the BMI Calculator and — more informatively — a waist measurement or body-fat estimate.
There is no single number. The healthy-BMI range for your height (18.5–24.9 × height in meters squared) is the most defensible reference band — for 1.75 m that is about 56.7–76.3 kg — and formulas like Devine give a narrower population average inside or near it.
Devine: men, 50 kg + 2.3 kg per inch over 5 feet; women, 45.5 kg + 2.3 kg per inch over 5 feet. For the BMI range, multiply your height in meters by itself, then by 18.5 and by 24.9.
Not exactly. Ideal-weight formulas give one point estimate from height alone; healthy weight is better expressed as the BMI-associated range, which is wider because muscle, frame and body composition vary.
Because a range is the honest output. Bodies at the same height legitimately differ by 15–20 kg while remaining healthy; a single kilogram figure implies precision the underlying data does not support.