Definition of body mass - What it is, Meaning and Concept

Before beginning to unravel the meaning of the term body mass that now concerns us, it is necessary to proceed to establish its etymological origin.In particular, we can determine that it is made up of two words that come from Latin: • Mass, emanates from Latin word "massa." This in turn is derived from the Greek "madza", which was used to refer to a cake that was made with flour as its main ingredient.• Corporal, meanwhile, comes from the Latin "corporalis" that It is composed of two clearly differentiated parts: "corpus", which is synonymous with "body", and the suffix "-al", which indicates that something is "relative to".

The physical magnitude that allows you to indicate the amount of matter that a body contains is known as mass .The unit of mass in the International System is the kilogram ( kg.).

Corporal , on the other hand, is what pertains to or relative to the body .Among the various uses of this concept, the body can be the set of organic systems that constitute a living being The human body , for example, is formed by the head, trunk, arms (upper extremities) and legs (lower extremities).


The body mass , therefore, is linked to the amount of matter present in a human body .The concept is associated with the Body Mass Index ( BMI ), which involves associating the weight and the height of the person to discover If this relationship is healthy.


Specifically, the following results are stipulated based on the figure obtained from the aforementioned calculation: • If the number obtained is below 18.50 it is established that the person in question has a low weight.In the event that the result determines a figure between 18.50 and 24.99 it can be said that the individual is in a normal situation in terms of weight • If the amount obtained is between 25 and 30 it is established that the person is overweight • Finally, if the resulting figure is greater than 30, it is established that the man or woman to whom it belongs has an obesity problem.This is slight if it is between 30 and 34.99; It is average if it is between 35 and 39.99 and finally suffers from morbid obesity if it exceeds the amount of 40.


Weight, by itself, does not constitute relevant information to know the status of health of a person.Two people can weigh eighty kilograms each one and, without However, one can have an excellent athletic state and the other suffer from obesity.A weight of eighty kilos is normal in those who measure 1.90 meters , but it constitutes a risk for someone who measures 1.60 meters .

The IMC , created by the Belgian statistician, sociologist and naturalist LAJQuetelet , is calculated dividing the weight (in kilograms) by the height squared (in centimeters) .It is necessary to consult in a table to know if the BMI reveals a healthy weight or some disorder (low weight or excessive weight) that must be corrected.

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