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The BMI Is Outdated, but It Still Works

How much can one simple number tell you about your health? A growing body of research over the past few years has highlighted the shortcomings of the body mass index (BMI), a basic measure of rotundity, as a predictor of well-being. The latest—and in some ways most comprehensive—of these reports appeared in August in the journal Science.

The BMI formula, developed in the 1800s by a Belgian statistician and sociologist, divides a person's weight, in kilograms, by the square of his or her height, in meters. As the new study points out, a normal BMI can mask metabolic abnormalities; even people with a normal weight-to-height ratio can harbor disorders in the way the body handles nutrients.…

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  Why it won’t be so easy for medicine to displace BMI

The policy that the American Medical Association adopted this week to de-emphasize the use of BMI is part of a growing movement away from the single, weight-based metric and toward a broader way of assessing health risk through multiple factors. Yet it will take more than the giant physician group to displace the use of the body mass index throughout medicine. Reliance on the metric is ubiquitous in the ways health care is delivered and paid for — from surgeries to fertility treatment, from drug approvals to insurance reimbursement.

  BMI – Bogus Measurement Index. Time to get real on fat

BMI is old school. Think rotary phone vs. iPhone 7. AND research shows that BMI regularly overestimates “obese-ness” in athletes, or those with more lean muscle mass, especially those that participate in strength training on a regular basis and have low body fat percentages. In fact, many pro athletes would be deemed as obese or overweight if BMI was the sole measure of body composition and health risk classification[3]. LeBron James, at 6’8” and 238 pounds, would be classified as overweight with a BMI of 26.1. Clearly, the scale is flawed. HA!!!! So why do healthcare workers use it? It’s easy. It’s cheap.

 Is the BMI Racially Biased?

Conversations about health care disparities continue on. One topic still being debated is the BMI. For years, health care practitioners and RDs alike have questioned whether the BMI is a valid measure of healthy weight and overall health for the masses. Critics say the BMI doesn’t account for body composition, physical activity level, body type, age, genetics, cultural diversity, or ethnicity, as there are differences in BMI and its associated health risks among African Americans, Asians, Indians, and other people of color.

Articles of Interest

Body mass index may not be the best indicator of our health – how can we improve it?

But BMI alone doesn’t give a full picture of a person’s health risk, as it’s simply a measure of body size – not of disease or health. BMI doesn’t actually measure body fat, a key element when establishing health risk. Although it provides a rough indication of body fat, it doesn’t distinguish between weight coming from fat versus muscle.

Forget BMI. Here’s A Better Tool To Measure Your Health

Never mind what you thought you knew about body mass index.

Is it Time to Move On from BMI?

Measuring your body mass index (BMI) might not give an accurate picture of your overall health. A better measurement might be lean body mass (LBM), which measures muscle mass–a predictor of your health–within the whole composition of your body.

Step aside BMI, body composition tests are on the rise. Here's what to know

“BMI is a very crude measure,” says Dr. Richard Joseph, a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who specializes in metabolic health. “It doesn’t tell me much about your underlying health,” he says. People can be a normal weight but have low muscle mass and high body fat, while others have higher body weight but are muscular and lean.

What is the Smart Body Mass Index?

This calculator functions on the basis of the newly developed Smart Body Mass Index. The SBMI differs from the BMI in three important aspects. Firstly, it takes age and sex into account, besides weight and height. Secondly, the SBMI is a purely comparative figure (without any physical units) on a scale of 70 points. And thirdly, the significance of the body weight for your health can easily be derived from the SBMI but not from the BMI...

Why You Shouldn’t Rely On BMI To Assess Your Health

Move over BMI: It’s time for waist circumference to shine. Since the 19th century, the body mass index scale, or BMI, has been the most reliable way to calculate a healthy body weight. The calculations categorize people into levels of normal weight, underweight, overweight, or obese depending on their weight to height proportions.

A Number That May Not Add Up

Before you contemplate a crash diet because your B.M.I. classifies you as overweight, consider what the index really represents and what is now known about its relationship to health and longevity.

Beyond BMI

Why doctors won't stop using an outdated measure for obesity.

BMI Chart: Why It’s A Bad Idea To Trust It

It’s incapable of measuring the most important health markers.

BMI – Bogus Measurement Index. Time to get real on fat

Have you been told that you’re obese or overweight and know that it can’t be right? I have.

How Useful Is Body Mass Index In Predicting Long-Term Health?

We all want simple and clear answers telling us how to improve our health, but no one number – in this case, body mass index – and no one study can provide the final word.

Much-Criticized Body Mass Index Endures as a Fatness Guide

Today's primary measure of obesity—the body mass index—has been attacked as outdated, flawed and bogus. Yet groups such as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to use the measure. As recently as May, the Lancet published the results of a study that used BMI to examine global obesity.

Muscle Mass Beats BMI as Longevity Predictor

Doctors routinely measure a patient's body mass index, or BMI. And if that weight-to-height ratio points to obesity, the doc might prescribe exercise, to shed the extra pounds. But when it comes to longevity, a focus on weight loss may be misplaced. Because BMI isn't actually a very reliable indicator of life span. A more useful measure, some physicians say, might be muscle mass.

This Is the Average Man's Body

Graphic renderings of modern males.

Turning the tables on obesity and BMI: When more can be better

I want to point out this interesting analysis in Science of a counterintuitive trend noticed in the last few years, the fact that BMI is not a foolproof predictor of mortality and that being overweight can actually be better for you.

Understanding your Measurements

Time to find out what you're made of.

Resources

BMI Calculator

Knowing BMI can help adult men and women understand their overall health. Use the BMI calculator below to determine your body mass index by inputting your height and weight. The BMI calculator uses the following BMI formula: Weight (lb) / (Height (in))² x 703.

Calculate your BMI

This calculator computes the body mass index and rates it appropriately for men, women, children, juveniles and seniors, now also for Asian users. The SBMI – an index that has been newly developed especially for this calculator – serves for this purpose. It is based on the results of the most comprehensive study* published so far on the BMI and its associated health risks.

Smart BMI

This calculator computes the body mass index and rates it appropriately for men, women, children, juveniles and seniors, now also for Asian users. The SBMI – an index that has been newly developed especially for this calculator – serves for this purpose. It is based on the results of the most comprehensive study* published so far on the BMI and its associated health risks.