This ideal weight calculator returns a range based on your height. It uses the Devine formula alongside the Asian BMI ranges that Malaysia applies. There is no single correct weight for a given height, so the result comes back as a band rather than one figure.
Enter your height to see your range.
Everything is calculated in your browser. Nothing is sent or stored. This is a reference figure, not a diagnosis.
How we calculate ideal weight here
We use two methods. First, the Devine formula starts at 45.5 kg for women and 50 kg for men at 152 cm, then adds 2.3 kg for each additional inch. Second, we take the healthy Asian BMI range of 18.5 to 22.9 and multiply it by your height in metres squared.
Why a range rather than one number
Frame size, muscle mass and age all change what a person should weigh. For example, someone training with resistance three times a week may sit at the top of the range and stay perfectly healthy. Someone completely sedentary, meanwhile, can sit mid-range although body fat already runs high. So a range is simply more honest than a single target.
When an ideal weight target does not fit
If your current weight sits far from this range, then aim for five to ten per cent of your current body weight instead. That much already improves blood pressure, blood sugar and lipids, and you will find it far easier to maintain. Also check the BMI calculator and daily calories, and read the guide to calculating BMI for the healthy weight band at your height.
What the formula ignores
It does not know your muscle mass, your thyroid function, or whether you take medication that affects weight. Furthermore it does not suit pregnancy, children, or athletes whose muscle mass runs well above average. For those groups, body composition measurement gives a more meaningful target than any height-based formula.
A better target than ideal weight
For most people, body fat percentage and waist circumference beat a figure on the scale. Body fat shows your actual composition, while waist circumference reflects the visceral fat that links straight to metabolic risk. Both can improve although total weight stays the same, and that is exactly what confuses people who only watch the scale. The Ministry of Health Malaysia publishes general guidance. Book a consultation.
Ideal weight for men and women: why the figures differ
At the same height, the band for men usually sits higher than for women. The reason is body composition, not a different standard. Men on average carry more muscle mass and less fat at the same weight, and muscle is denser.
The Devine formula starts at 50 kg for men and 45.5 kg for women at 152 cm, then adds 2.3 kg per inch. That 4.5 kg gap at the start carries through the whole scale.
But an average difference is not an individual one. A woman who trains with resistance three times a week can sit above the male band at the same height, and that is not a problem. This is why body composition gives a more honest target than any formula.
Ideal weight by height and sex
This table uses the Devine formula for the midpoint, and the Asian BMI range of 18.5 to 22.9 for the healthy band.
| Height | Devine, women | Devine, men | Healthy band, Malaysian BMI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 150 cm | 43.2 kg | 47.7 kg | 41.6 to 51.5 kg |
| 155 cm | 47.7 kg | 52.2 kg | 44.4 to 55.0 kg |
| 160 cm | 52.3 kg | 56.8 kg | 47.4 to 58.6 kg |
| 165 cm | 56.9 kg | 61.4 kg | 50.4 to 62.3 kg |
| 170 cm | 61.4 kg | 65.9 kg | 53.5 to 66.2 kg |
| 175 cm | 66.0 kg | 70.5 kg | 56.7 to 70.1 kg |
| 180 cm | 70.6 kg | 75.1 kg | 59.9 to 74.2 kg |
Notice one thing. From 175 cm upwards, the Devine figure for men falls outside the Malaysian healthy BMI band. That is not an error. Devine was developed from Western populations in the 1970s, while the Malaysian cut-offs are lower. Where the two methods disagree, we take the lower figure as the top of the band.
Ideal weight by age
A height-based formula takes no account of age, and that is a real weakness. Two things change with age: muscle mass declines slowly after the thirties, and height itself declines after middle age.
The effect is that the same person can hold the same weight for twenty years while body fat percentage climbs substantially. The scale shows nothing, but composition has already changed. In older adults, a slightly higher BMI sometimes tracks with better outcomes, and losing muscle is more concerning than carrying a few extra kilograms.
So from the fifties onwards, the more useful target is not a number on the scale but holding on to muscle mass and grip strength.
Ideal weight for children
The table above does not apply to children. A child’s weight is assessed against age and sex percentile charts, not against an adult formula or adult BMI bands.
Applying adult bands to a child produces wrong conclusions in both directions, and it should not be done. If you are concerned about a child’s weight, see a clinic or paediatrician who will compare against the correct growth chart.
If you are far from this band
A large gap between current weight and the ideal band is discouraging, and that is one reason people stop early. A more useful target is five to ten per cent of current body weight.
For someone at 95 kg, that means 4.75 to 9.5 kg. That much already improves blood pressure, fasting glucose and the lipid profile, and it is far easier to sustain than a target that feels impossible.
The ideal band is the destination, not the first step. The first step is five per cent.
Five questions before you set a weight target
- What is the weight you held most steadily for at least a year, rather than the lowest you ever reached
- How much of your current weight is muscle, which only a body composition measurement can answer
- Your waist measurement, since it can flag risk even when weight sits inside the band
- Whether any current medication affects your weight
- What you could sustain for two years, not two months
That last question is the one most often skipped, and it is the one that decides whether weight that comes off stays off.
Healthy weight range by height
This table runs the same range the calculator above uses, for every 5 cm from 145 to 190 cm. The WHO column sits beside it so you can see why two people can get a different answer for the same body depending on which chart is used.
| Height | Malaysia (BMI 18.5 - 22.9) | WHO (BMI 18.5 - 24.9) | Difference at the top |
|---|---|---|---|
| 145 cm | 38.9 - 48.1 kg | 38.9 - 52.4 kg | 4.3 kg |
| 150 cm | 41.6 - 51.5 kg | 41.6 - 56.0 kg | 4.5 kg |
| 155 cm | 44.4 - 55.0 kg | 44.4 - 59.8 kg | 4.8 kg |
| 160 cm | 47.4 - 58.6 kg | 47.4 - 63.7 kg | 5.1 kg |
| 165 cm | 50.4 - 62.3 kg | 50.4 - 67.8 kg | 5.5 kg |
| 170 cm | 53.5 - 66.2 kg | 53.5 - 72.0 kg | 5.8 kg |
| 175 cm | 56.7 - 70.1 kg | 56.7 - 76.3 kg | 6.2 kg |
| 180 cm | 59.9 - 74.2 kg | 59.9 - 80.7 kg | 6.5 kg |
| 185 cm | 63.3 - 78.4 kg | 63.3 - 85.2 kg | 6.8 kg |
| 190 cm | 66.8 - 82.7 kg | 66.8 - 89.9 kg | 7.2 kg |
The Malaysian column uses the cut-offs in the Clinical Practice Guidelines on Management of Obesity, Ministry of Health Malaysia and Malaysian Endocrine and Metabolic Society, 2023.
The last column is the part that catches people out. At 170 cm the two charts disagree by close to 6 kg, so a weight that reads as healthy on an international chart can already sit above the Malaysian range.
Where this range sits on a height-weight chart
Healthy weight in a Malaysian context
More than half of Malaysian adults sit above this range. That is not a reason to ignore the number, but it does mean the healthy range is not where most people currently are, so a gap that looks large is ordinary and can be closed in stages.
Source: National Health and Morbidity Survey 2023, Ministry of Health Malaysia. Abdominal obesity is a waist circumference of 90 cm and above for men, 80 cm and above for women.
