Ben J. Devine coined the term “ideal body weight” in 1974 to enable for the estimate of medication clearances in obese patients; since then, researchers have discovered that the metabolism of certain pharmaceuticals is more closely related to IBW than total body weight. The term was coined after insurance data was used to show the relative mortality of males and females depending on various height-weight combinations.

The Devine formula is the most frequent method for calculating IBW; however, other models exist and have been shown to produce similar results. Body mass index and the Hamwi method are two other ways for determining the ideal body weight. Because it does not reveal the amount of fat or muscle in one’s body, the IBW is not an ideal fat measurement. Athletes’ scores, for example, show that they are overweight when they are in fact quite fit and healthy. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) machines can reliably determine the proportion and weight of fat, muscle, and bone in a person’s body.