Normalvikt

Normalvikt is a term used in Swedish and other Scandinavian languages to refer to the weight range regarded as healthy for a person of a given height. In clinical and public health contexts, normal weight is commonly defined by a body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m^2 for adults. Values below 18.5 are categorized as underweight, while values from 25.0 to 29.9 are considered overweight and 30.0 and above as obesity.

Body mass index is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. It is a simple, widely used proxy for body fatness but has limitations: it does not distinguish fat from lean mass, fat distribution, or muscle mass; it may misclassify athletes or older adults, and can be influenced by ethnicity and pregnancy.

For children and adolescents, normal weight is assessed with BMI-for-age percentiles rather than fixed BMI thresholds; the healthy range typically falls around the middle percentiles, with overweight defined roughly above the 85th percentile and obesity above the 95th percentile, varying by country.

In public health, normal weight serves as a reference category in surveillance of population health, risk assessment, and nutrition guidance. The distribution of normal weight varies by age, sex, ethnicity, and population, and individuals may have healthy weight outside the conventional BMI range when accounting for body composition and metabolic health.