For a woman who is 5ft 4in, a healthy BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 works out at roughly 7st 10lb to 10st 5lb. The chart below covers every height from 4ft 10in to 6ft, with the overweight and obese ranges alongside.
How to read the chart
Each row is a height. Read across and you'll find three weight ranges:
- Healthy is the range that gives a BMI from 18.5 up to 24.9, which is what the NHS calls a healthy weight.
- Overweight covers a BMI of 25 up to 29.9.
- Obese starts at a BMI of 30.
Every figure is rounded to a whole pound and the ranges don't overlap, so each weight belongs to exactly one column. If you sit right on a boundary, the calculator will give you the exact number to one decimal place, and our colour-coded BMI chart shows the BMI for every stone in between.
BMI chart for women: stone and pounds
| Height | Metric | Healthy (18.5–24.9) | Overweight (25–29.9) | Obese (30+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4ft 10in | 147 cm | 6st 5lb – 8st 7lb | 8st 8lb – 10st 3lb | 10st 4lb + |
| 4ft 11in | 150 cm | 6st 8lb – 8st 11lb | 8st 12lb – 10st 8lb | 10st 9lb + |
| 5ft 0in | 152 cm | 6st 11lb – 9st 2lb | 9st 3lb – 10st 13lb | 11st 0lb + |
| 5ft 1in | 155 cm | 7st 0lb – 9st 6lb | 9st 7lb – 11st 4lb | 11st 5lb + |
| 5ft 2in | 157 cm | 7st 4lb – 9st 10lb | 9st 11lb – 11st 10lb | 11st 11lb + |
| 5ft 3in | 160 cm | 7st 7lb – 10st 1lb | 10st 2lb – 12st 1lb | 12st 2lb + |
| 5ft 4in | 163 cm | 7st 10lb – 10st 5lb | 10st 6lb – 12st 6lb | 12st 7lb + |
| 5ft 5in | 165 cm | 8st 0lb – 10st 10lb | 10st 11lb – 12st 12lb | 12st 13lb + |
| 5ft 6in | 168 cm | 8st 3lb – 11st 0lb | 11st 1lb – 13st 3lb | 13st 4lb + |
| 5ft 7in | 170 cm | 8st 7lb – 11st 5lb | 11st 6lb – 13st 9lb | 13st 10lb + |
| 5ft 8in | 173 cm | 8st 10lb – 11st 10lb | 11st 11lb – 14st 1lb | 14st 2lb + |
| 5ft 9in | 175 cm | 9st 0lb – 12st 1lb | 12st 2lb – 14st 7lb | 14st 8lb + |
| 5ft 10in | 178 cm | 9st 3lb – 12st 6lb | 12st 7lb – 14st 13lb | 15st 0lb + |
| 5ft 11in | 180 cm | 9st 7lb – 12st 11lb | 12st 12lb – 15st 5lb | 15st 6lb + |
| 6ft 0in | 183 cm | 9st 11lb – 13st 2lb | 13st 3lb – 15st 11lb | 15st 12lb + |
If you're between two heights
Go with whichever row you're closer to. (Our ideal weight guide has the same ranges in kilograms.) If you're exactly halfway, the shorter height gives you the slightly more cautious answer. Either way it rarely changes the picture much: at the top of the healthy range, one inch of height is worth only about 4 to 5 pounds.
It's worth checking your height properly before you rely on the chart, though. Being out by an inch or two is surprisingly common, especially if the last time anyone measured you was at school. The guide to working out your BMI by hand has a simple way to measure yourself at home.
If your family background is Asian, Middle Eastern or Black
The chart above uses the standard cut-offs. NICE recommends lower ones for people of South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean family background, because the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease starts to rise at a lower BMI.
For these groups, overweight begins at a BMI of 23 and obesity at 27.5. To give you a feel for the difference, for a woman who's 5ft 4in:
| Standard thresholds | NICE lower thresholds | |
|---|---|---|
| Overweight from | 10st 6lb | 9st 9lb |
| Obese from | 12st 7lb | 11st 7lb |
That's a difference of 11 pounds at the first threshold and a full stone at the second, which is why it's worth knowing which set applies to you.
What the chart can't tell you
A chart like this treats every woman of the same height and weight identically. It doesn't know whether you swim three times a week or haven't exercised in years. Muscle is denser than fat, so someone strong and fit can land higher up the chart than you'd expect from looking at her.
It also can't see where you carry your weight, and that matters. Fat around the middle is more closely tied to health problems than fat on the hips and thighs. If you want a second opinion from a tape measure, have a look at our guide to waist-to-height ratio. And if you're in your late 40s or 50s and the numbers have started behaving differently, BMI and menopause explains why.
Questions people ask
What should a 5ft 2 woman weigh in stone?
Between about 7st 4lb and 9st 10lb gives a healthy BMI of 18.5 to 24.9.
What should a 5ft 4 woman weigh in stone?
Between about 7st 10lb and 10st 5lb gives a healthy BMI.
What should a 5ft 6 woman weigh in stone?
Between about 8st 3lb and 11st 0lb gives a healthy BMI.
Is 10 stone overweight for a woman?
It depends on your height. At 5ft 2in, 10 stone is a BMI of 25.6, just into the overweight range. At 5ft 4in it's 24.0 and at 5ft 8in it's 21.3, both healthy.
Is 11 stone overweight for a woman?
At 5ft 4in, 11 stone is a BMI of 26.4, which is overweight. At 5ft 6in it's 24.9, right at the top of the healthy range, and at 5ft 8in it's 23.4.
Want your exact figure? Enter your height and weight for a result to one decimal place.
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