Human weight
Weight, in the context of human
body weight measurements in the medical sciences and in sports is used interchangably with
mass (rather than the correct technical definition of
weight), and is thus expressed in units of mass, such as
kilograms (kg) or weight, such as
pounds (lb). In Britain, the unit
stone (equivalent to 14 lb or 6.35 kg) is commonly used as well.
The average weight for male adults in the
United States is about 76 to 83 kg (168 to 183 lb). The average weight for male teenagers in the United States is about 45 to 64 kg (99 to 141 lb) . For female adults the average weight is 54 to 64 kg (120 to 141 lb). For female teenagers the average weight is 45 to 57 kg (100 to 126 lb) . Weight is, of course, related to height, so people taller than average tend to be heavier as well.
A quantity called
Body Mass Index (BMI) is often used to express weight relative to height. This is determined by dividing the weight of a person in kilograms by the square of the height in meters.
*normal and abnormal
growth and
development*the
physiological and
hormonal control of ingestion and
digestion*
hunger and other
motivations to eat
*problems in regulating body weight, often resulting in
obesity*
eating disorders such as
anorexia nervosa and
bulimia nervosa*effects of
disease, often resulting in
cachexia*leveling the playing field in various sports such as
boxing,
wrestling, and
judo by classifying participants according to their weight
*issues regarding seat sizing and weight limitations on airplanes and other forms of
transport*
anthropometry*
birth weight*
body mass index*
human height*
obesity
