Determining an individual's ideal body weight from skeletal measurements: a new method

Determining an individual's "ideal" body weight is fundamental in nutritional therapy. A simulation of the human body to a cylindrical volumetric model permits the calculation of the ideal body weight from the measured height, interacromioclavicular distance, and humeral length. A group of 189 healthy normal volunteers were assessed. The calculated "Pitt" ideal body weight correlated closely (r = 0.88 for males, r = 0.72 for women) with values obtained from the Metropolitan tables. The technique provides an estimate of ideal body weight based upon reproducible, easily obtained measurements of fixed bony landmarks.