Too fat, too thin… the appreciation of one's own image is usually a matter of fashion and personal impression. The body mass index or BMI is much more reliable. What is the BMI? The Body Mass Index (BMI, acronym in English: BMI -Body Mass Index-), also known as the Quetelet index (Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quételet), is a number that aims to determine, from height and weight, the healthiest range of mass that can have good health.