This is the documentation for the BMI calculator app written in R as a partial requirement for the completion of the Data Science Specialization offered by JHU via Coursera. This is a reactive app (updates the output as and when the input is modified).
BMI or Body Mass index is a simple quantitative measure used by medical practitioners around the world to establish body type categories. Body Mass Index is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. A high BMI can be an indicator of high body fatness. BMI can be used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems but it is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual.
The obtained BMI is classified based on WHO guidelines as follows:
In addition, gender and age introduces additional parameters into the equation. This is discussed elsewhere.
The sidepanel of the app takes in multiple parameters as text input (ui.R).
The mainpanel shows the result after taking in your parameters (server.R). The first part shows the numerical value of your BMI. In the next line it shows the category of your BMI, for instance a BMI of 19 would show a category Normal.
In addition, a visual representation of your BMI with respect to randomly generated samples of BMI as a function of Weight and Height is also generated. The dotted horizontal line corresponds to your BMI, while the vertical line corresponds to your input. The intersection of these lines represent your BMI. This allows for a comparitative overview with respect to other samples.