As the American Heart Association points out, Asian people are more likely to hold fat around their waistline, and this abdominal (called “visceral”) fat is especially dangerous. Asian people The BMI scale is not a good measurement for individuals who are Asian, who may see increased health risks before their height and weight calculation qualifies as overweight (BMI of 25 or higher), per research.Groups for Which BMI May Be InaccurateīMI is not always the best measure of body fat and overall health, especially if you’re in any of the following groups. “Body mass index doesn’t show the difference between muscle and fat, so it doesn’t always accurately predict when weight could lead to health problems,” says Kim Larson, RDN, a health and wellness coach at Total Health in Woodinville, Washington. Increasingly, the scale has come under scrutiny as more and more people are being placed into its high-risk categories of overweight or obese. Study authors pointed out that lifestyle habits can mitigate some (but not all) of the health problems associated with being at a higher weight.ĭespite its wide use, BMI is flawed. That said, those who had a higher BMI did have an increased risk of death from heart disease. For instance, in population-based research on middle-aged and older men and women, obese individuals who adhered to the Mediterranean diet did not have a higher overall mortality risk that is normally associated with a higher BMI, according to a study published in PLOS Medicine in September 2020. What’s more, health habits go a long way in protecting you no matter your weight. BMI does not tell you what someone eats, how they move their body, the quality of their sleep, or their stress levels - all things that influence health. It cannot, however, provide an indication of someone’s health habits. The bottom line? BMI in the traditional sense is used as a measure for health risk. That increased risk may have been due to impaired glucose and lipid metabolism, the study suggested.Īnother study, in the August 2020 Obesity Reviews, found that people who have obesity are 48 percent more at risk of death from the infection than non-obese individuals. What’s more, in a study on adults in the United Kingdom published in August 2020 in PNAS, researchers concluded that as BMI increased, the risk for hospitalization from COVID-19 did, too. People who are considered overweight or obese are at a greater risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and even cancer, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. High BMI and Chronic DiseaseĪfter all, research suggests that BMI is closely tied to disease risk. In this way, your BMI affects your healthcare costs. A high BMI may compel your doctor to give you additional health screenings, prescribe certain drugs, and require additional follow-up appointments to monitor your weight. That simple number can be tied to your healthcare. And many experts have started to question BMI's accuracy.īMI is far from perfect, and as the years have passed, more and more science has emerged that reveals the flaws of this approach.īefore delving into what exactly those imperfections are, it’s important to understand not only BMI’s history but also what your BMI number suggest about your health - and why you shouldn’t necessarily jump into panic mode if your doc says your number is too high. If this formula seems complicated and somewhat arbitrary, that’s because it is. Here’s what your number means, per the CDC: Or check out the CDC’s BMI calculator if math isn’t your thing. The federal government uses the calculation to track obesity rates in the country, and according to this scale, 42.4 percent of American adults age 20 and older are obese, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Īdults can measure their BMI by taking their body weight in pounds, dividing that value by their height in inches squared, and multiplying the latter value by 703. Many people have been there: You go to the doctor’s office, get your blood pressure, height, and weight taken, and the doctor relays the unfortunate news: Your BMI is too high, and you need to lose weight.īMI, or body mass index, has long been used as a way to assess body weight in the United States.
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