Estimate your ideal body weight based on your height, age, and gender using the Devine formula.
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The Devine formula is one of the most widely used methods by clinicians to estimate ideal body weight based on height and biological sex. It provides a reference point rather than a strict target, since healthy weight also depends on muscle mass, bone density, and body composition. This calculator gives you a quick, evidence-based estimate you can discuss with a healthcare provider alongside other measurements like BMI and waist circumference. "Ideal weight" formulas have a surprisingly practical history — they weren't originally designed as personal health targets but as quick tools for anesthesiologists needing fast weight estimates for medication dosing when a patient couldn't be weighed. Devine (1974), Robinson (1983), Miller (1983), and Hamwi (1964) each drew from different population datasets, which is exactly why each gives a slightly different number for the same person — none is more "correct" than the others. Because these formulas were built from population averages decades ago, they don't account for modern variation in body composition, ethnicity, or muscle mass — which is exactly why doctors today treat any single 'ideal weight' number as one data point among several, not a strict target that overrides how someone actually looks, feels, and performs.
"Ideal weight" formulas have a surprisingly long history in medicine, originally developed not as personal health targets but as practical tools for anesthesiologists and other clinicians needing quick weight estimates for drug dosing calculations, before more precise body composition measurement became widely accessible. This context matters, because it explains why the formulas are simpler — and sometimes noticeably different from one another — than modern body composition science might suggest.
The Devine formula (1974) remains the most widely used in clinical medicine specifically because of its drug-dosing origins, and it's often the default "ideal body weight" reference in medical calculators. The Robinson (1983) and Miller (1983) formulas are modifications developed to improve on Devine's original numbers using updated population data available at the time. The Hamwi formula (1964) predates all of them and uses a simpler frame-based method with adjustable ranges for small, medium, and large body frames.
Because each formula was built from different reference populations and different original purposes, they routinely disagree with each other by several kilograms or more for the exact same height — which is precisely why this calculator, like most reputable ideal-weight tools, shows results from all four formulas together rather than presenting a single number as definitive. Treating that range as an estimate — not a strict target to force through diet or exercise — better reflects what these formulas were actually built to do.
None of these formulas account for muscle mass, bone density, frame size beyond Hamwi's rough categories, or age-related body composition changes, which is exactly why modern health guidance increasingly favors looking at these ideal-weight ranges alongside other measures — like waist circumference, body fat percentage, or simply how someone's blood work and fitness level compare to healthy reference ranges — rather than treating any single weight number as the full picture of health.
Not exactly — ideal weight is a reference estimate, while healthy weight considers your full body composition.
None is definitively "correct" — they're all rough population-based estimates. Looking at the range across formulas together, rather than picking one number, gives a more honest picture of what's normal.
Men and women have different average muscle and bone mass, which the formula accounts for.