Ideal & Adjusted Body Weight
Ideal Body Weight (IBW) is a calculation used clinically to determine medication dosages and nutritional needs. However, in patients with obesity, standard IBW may be inaccurate.
This advanced tool calculates standard IBW using four medical formulas. Crucially, if your actual weight exceeds 120% of your IBW, it automatically calculates your Adjusted Body Weight (AjBW), the gold standard for clinical dosing.
Why Adjusted Body Weight?
In individuals with significant obesity, adipose tissue is less metabolically active than lean tissue. Using Actual Body Weight for drug dosing can lead to toxicity, while using Ideal Body Weight can lead to under-dosing.
Adjusted Body Weight (AjBW) provides a correction factor (usually 40%) to account for the metabolically active portion of excess weight.
Formula: IBW + 0.4 * (Actual Weight – IBW)
How to Use
Input Details
Enter your gender and height. For the Gap Analysis, enter your current weight.
Check IBW
Review the “Clinical Average” for a general health target.
Check AjBW
If you see the yellow Adjusted Body Weight card appear, use this number for medication dosing calculations.