About Plain Measure

Plain Measure is an independent English-language publication about healthy weight and the everyday habits that support health: food, sleep, stress and physical activity. It explains what public health bodies actually recommend, in plain language, with the sources one click away.

What we publish

• Healthy weight & BMI: healthy weight ranges by height, adult BMI categories, waist-to-height ratio, and why children and teenagers are measured differently.
• Nutrition basics: a balanced plate, fruit and vegetables, fibre and whole grains, free sugars and salt.
• Sleep & stress: how much sleep adults need, sleep habits, sleep and appetite, coping with stress.
• Physical activity: the weekly guidelines, strength exercises, walking, and how where you live shapes how much you move.

The calculator

The healthy weight calculator on the home page is a small JavaScript program written for this site. It works out body mass index (weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared), the weight range that corresponds to a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 for a given height, the adult categories used by the World Health Organization, the CDC and the NHS, the optional lower thresholds recommended by NICE for some ethnic groups, and the waist-to-height ratio bands published by NICE. Its formulas are covered by automated tests. It runs entirely in your browser: nothing you enter is sent, stored or logged. It does not calculate BMI-for-age percentiles for children; it points to the official CDC and NHS calculators instead.

How articles are written

• Official sources first. Articles are based on public health bodies and official guidance: the WHO, the CDC, the US National Institutes of Health, the NHS, NICE and similar organisations. Each article ends with its sources.
• Cautious claims. We report what these sources say, with their own hedges. We do not make medical claims beyond them, promise weight loss or recommend diets.
• No products. We do not sell or recommend supplements, diet plans, programmes or devices.
• Respectful language. Weight is a sensitive subject. We avoid ideal-body framing and point readers who are struggling with food or weight towards professional help.
• Dated pages. Every article shows its publication date, and an "Updated" date when it changes. Guidelines change; if one has, please tell us.
• No invented people. Articles are signed with the name of the publication. We do not invent authors, experts or testimonials.

Independence

Plain Measure has no advertising, no affiliate links and no sponsored content, and it is not connected to any of the organisations whose guidance it describes. Publisher details are on the legal notice page.

About this domain

The domain howmuchshouldiweigh.org previously hosted "How Much Should I Weigh?", a small website with an ideal-weight wizard that asked for a visitor's sex and height, a handful of short articles and a links page. Archived copies show those pages still online in 2024, without recent updates; in 2026 the domain displayed a registrar's notice that its registration had expired. Plain Measure is a new and separate publication: it has no connection with the former site or its owner and has not reused any of its text, code, logo or design. Because many websites still link to this domain, including to pre-filled results such as /?gender=female&height=5.4, the new calculator reads those links and shows the healthy weight range for the height they contain.

Contact and corrections

See the contact page to report an error or an outdated statement.