📚 Interpretation
What your Overall Health Index means
Your Overall Health Index (OHI) is a simple 0–100 score that combines
several everyday inputs into one number you can track over time.
It’s intentionally not “clinical” — the goal is to make health feel measurable
without turning your life into a spreadsheet.
Think of it like a weekly dashboard. If your score improves from 58 to 68 over a month,
that usually means your habits are getting more consistent. If it drops, it’s a signal
that something (sleep, stress, movement, hydration, nutrition, or recovery) got squeezed.
The most important part isn’t the exact number — it’s the pattern and the
breakdown.
Score ranges (quick guide)
- 85–100: Thriving — Strong consistency across multiple areas. You’re stacking habits in a sustainable way.
- 70–84: Solid — Your foundation is good. A couple of small upgrades (usually sleep or activity) can push you higher.
- 50–69: Needs Tune‑Up — You’re not “failing” — you’re just running a few habits below your ideal baseline.
- 0–49: High Risk Zone — This often happens during burnout seasons, illness, or long stretches of neglect. The best move is to pick one lever and rebuild.
The viral-friendly way to use it
- “Before vs after” challenge: screenshot your score today, then again in 14 days.
- Low-score redemption arc: post the lowest sub-score and your plan to fix it.
- Friends leaderboard: compare scores weekly (accountability without shame).
- Habit experiments: try “no phone in bed” for a week and see if the sleep sub-score changes.
🧠 How it works
The formula (simple, transparent, and tweakable)
This calculator converts each input into a sub-score from 0–100, then combines them with
weights that add up to 100. The weights reflect the idea that some categories tend to
move the needle more consistently for everyday wellness.
Step 1: Convert inputs into sub-scores
Each category gets a score. If you’re at or above a “good baseline,” you’ll be close to 100.
If you’re far below baseline (or in a risky range), your score drops. We also cap scores
so that extreme values don’t blow up the index — the goal is stability, not drama.
- BMI sub-score (0–100): Estimated from height + weight. We treat the middle range as “best scoring,” and reduce points as you move far away from it. This is not a diagnosis; it’s just a proxy input many people track.
- Activity sub-score: Based on active minutes/week. Around 150 minutes/week scores high. More than that still scores high (we cap it for simplicity).
- Sleep sub-score: Peaks around 7–9 hours/night. Too little or too much sleep can be a sign that something is off, so the score tapers down outside that zone.
- Nutrition sub-score: Fruits + veggies servings/day, capped at 10. Consistent “some” scores better than perfect “sometimes.”
- Hydration sub-score: Water cups/day, with 8 cups as a common reference. Needs vary, but this keeps the score intuitive.
- Smoking sub-score: A simplified risk factor. Never and former score higher than daily.
- Alcohol sub-score: Lower weekly drinks score higher. We allow moderation without punishing normal social behavior.
- Stress sub-score: Your 1–10 self-rating is reversed into 0–100. This nudges the index to reflect overload.
Step 2: Apply weights (adds to 100)
The default weights used here:
- BMI: 20%
- Activity: 20%
- Sleep: 15%
- Nutrition: 15%
- Hydration: 10%
- Smoking: 10%
- Alcohol: 5%
- Stress: 5%
Then we compute:
Overall Health Index = Σ(weight × sub-score).
That’s it. Transparent. No secret sauce. The “magic” is that you can see which lever is dragging you down.
Examples (so you can sanity-check)
Example A: Consistent baseline. A person sleeps 7.5 hours, hits 180 active minutes/week,
drinks 8 cups of water, eats 5 servings of fruits + veggies, low stress, and doesn’t smoke.
Even if their BMI sub-score is not perfect, they’ll likely land in the 70–90 range.
Example B: Busy season. Sleep drops to 5.5 hours, stress hits 8/10, activity is 40 minutes/week.
Nothing is “wrong” with the person — but the index will reflect the squeeze and often lands around 40–60.
That’s a cue to recover, not self-criticize.
Example C: One lever fix. If your lowest sub-score is sleep, adding 60–90 minutes of sleep
can raise your total OHI surprisingly fast (because sleep is weighted at 15% and also indirectly helps stress and activity).
🛠️ Make it actionable
How to raise your score in 7 days (without becoming a health monk)
If you want a fast improvement, don’t try to max everything. The highest ROI move is usually:
fix the lowest sub-score with one small habit you can repeat daily.
Quick upgrades by category
- Low activity? Add a 10–15 minute walk after one meal each day. It’s “invisible cardio” that stacks fast.
- Low sleep? Pick one rule: “Screens off 30 minutes before bed” or “same wake time daily.” Consistency beats hacks.
- Low hydration? Put a bottle near your workspace and drink a glass after every bathroom break. Sounds silly — works.
- Low nutrition? Add one fruit/veg you like and eat it automatically (berries, carrots, an apple). Repeat.
- High stress? Schedule a 5‑minute “brain dump” (notes app) once per day. Stress often drops when the mind stops holding everything.
- Alcohol creeping up? Decide your weekly cap in advance and choose which nights are “yes” nights. Planning beats willpower.
- Smoking daily? If you’re working on quitting, any reduction is progress. This score is not moral judgment — it’s a risk dial.
The best strategy is to choose a goal that fits your reality.
If you’re a parent with a newborn, “perfect sleep” is not the target.
The target is “slightly better than last week.”
A simple weekly routine
- Sunday: Calculate your score and save a snapshot.
- Pick 1 lever: Choose the lowest sub-score to focus on.
- One daily action: Make the smallest possible version that still counts.
- Next Sunday: Recalculate. If it improved, keep it. If not, make it easier.