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Body Surface Area Chart

The medical community has a formula for body surface area!

By Rob Cockerham |

About ten years ago, in the New York City studios of MTV, my sister Jane and I tried to calculate the surface area of Dave Grohl, guitarist for the Foo Fighters.

We wrapped him in a tight skin of aluminum foil, then unwrapped it and measured the area of the flat foil.

Our measurements yielded a result of 1.5 square meters.

Last month, my fried Ali told me about a common formula for calculating the surface area of a person's body. Take height (cm) x weight (kg) / 3600, and the BSA is the square root of this number. Ali is a nurse, and she actually has to do this calculation when she is preparing doses for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

I was immediately interested, because I've been steeped in height and weight numbers for years now, trying to complete my photographic height weight chart. Like the BMI chart, this was a calculation I could add to any body size on the chart!

So I did. If you look at the height weight chart today, you should see a calculation for the body surface area for any height and weight represented. The surface areas for adult humans range from 1.3 square meters (4'10" and 90 lbs.) to 3 square meters (6'3" and 370 lbs.), and everything in between.

Body Surface Area   4' 10, 90 lbs.
1.3 meters squared 4' 10" 90 lbs.
 

Body Surface Area   4' 11, 110 lbs. 5' 0, 100 lbs.
1.4 meters squared 4' 11" 110 lbs.
5' 1" 100 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 0" 120 lbs. 5' 0, 120 lbs. 5' 6, 110 lbs. 5' 8, 100 lbs.
1.5 meters squared 5' 6" 110 lbs.
5' 8" 100 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 0" 140 lbs. 5' 0, 140 lbs. 5' 3, 130 lbs. 5' 8, 120 lbs.
1.6 meters squared 5' 3" 130 lbs.
5' 8" 120 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 0" 150 lbs. 5' 0, 150 lbs. 5' 5, 140 lbs. 5' 10, 130 lbs.
1.7 meters squared 5' 5" 140 lbs.
5' 10" 130 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 1" 170 lbs. 5' 1, 170 lbs. 5' 7, 150 lbs. 6' 0, 140 lbs.
1.8 meters squared 5' 7" 150 lbs.
6' 0" 140 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 3" 180 lbs. 5' 3, 180 lbs. 5' 6, 170 lbs. 5' 10, 160 lbs.
1.9 meters squared 5' 6" 170 lbs.
5' 10" 160 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 2" 200 lbs. 5' 2, 200 lbs. 5' 5, 190 lbs. 5' 9, 180 lbs.
2.0 meters squared 5' 5" 190 lbs.
5' 9" 180 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 0" 230 lbs. 5' 0, 230 lbs. 5' 6, 210 lbs. 6' 0, 190 lbs.
2.1 meters squared 5' 6" 210 lbs.
6' 0" 190 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 3" 240 lbs. 5' 3, 240 lbs. 5' 9, 220 lbs. 6' 0, 210 lbs.
2.2 meters squared 5' 9" 220 lbs.
6' 0" 210 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 5" 250 lbs. 5' 5, 250 lbs. 5' 9, 240 lbs. 6' 0, 230 lbs.
2.3 meters squared 5' 9" 240 lbs.
6' 0" 230 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 6" 270 lbs. 5' 6, 270 lbs. 5' 9, 260 lbs. 6' 2, 240 lbs.
2.4 meters squared 5' 9" 260 lbs.
6' 2" 240 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 7" 290 lbs. 5' 7, 290 lbs. 6' 0, 270 lbs. 6' 3, 260 lbs.
2.5 meters squared 6' 0" 270 lbs.
6' 3" 260 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 8" 310 lbs. 5' 8, 310 lbs. 5' 10, 300 lbs. 6' 2, 280 lbs.
2.6 meters squared 5' 10" 300 lbs.
6' 2" 280 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 8" 330 lbs. 5' 8, 330 lbs. 5' 11, 320 lbs. 6' 3, 300 lbs.
2.7 meters squared 5' 11" 320 lbs.
6' 3" 300 lbs.

Body Surface Area 5' 11" 340 lbs. 5' 11, 340 lbs. 6' 2, 330 lbs. 6' 6, 310 lbs.
2.8 meters squared 6' 2" 330 lbs.
6' 6quot; 310 lbs.

Body Surface Area 6' 1" 360 lbs. 6' 1, 360 lbs. 6' 2, 350 lbs. 6' 6, 310 lbs.
2.9 meters squared 6' 2" 350 lbs.
6' 5" 340 lbs.

Body Surface Area   6' 3, 370 lbs. 6' 5, 360 lbs.
3.0 meters squared 6' 3" 370 lbs.
6' 5" 360 lbs.

Body surface area doesn't indicate the body type of an individual. A very tall thin man can have the same BSA as a short round woman. BSA is a better indicator of metabolic mass than body weight since it is less affected by abnormal body fat.

Body Surface Area Chart

Body Surface Area Chart - small people

Body Surface Area - medium sized people

Body Surface Area - large people

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