Body mass index, BMI, is a scale traditionally used by doctors to diagnose clinical obesity. Recently, however, this tool has been controversial. Doctors now believe that other factors, including muscle mass, health conditions, and waist measurement must be considered.
According to a literature review published in Cureus, doctors have used BMI since the 1830s, when Adolphe Quetelet documented multiple men’s height and weight in search of the measurements of an “average man.” According to the scale, a healthy weight is a BMI of 18.5-25. Overweight is considered to be between 25 and 30, and obesity is diagnosed at over 30.
While BMI has been considered a helpful tool for doctors to diagnose and treat clinical obesity, it is now being discredited due to its narrowness. BMI’s simplicity overshadows important health factors, and experts argue that it should not be the sole tool used to diagnose obesity.
According to the new parameters for diagnosing obesity published in the Lancet, a medical journal,, BMI measures of obesity can overestimate or underestimate body fat, giving incomplete health information.
The commission sought to diagnose clinical obesity when someone is overweight and experiencing one of the diseases caused by adiposity, or excess body fat, rather than solely using a BMI number to determine health.
Junior Xia Nesbitt was not aware that BMI is being discredited, but finds the conflict particularly interesting due to its relevance in the media.
“There are so many websites where you can look up your own BMI, and there are so many old, 2000s reality shows which were super focused on BMI, and it kind of defined if you are healthy or not,” Xia said.
PE teacher Luke Zavala said that while BMI can be a useful metric for detecting diseases or tracking weight loss, it does not tell the full story of a person’s health.
“An NFL runningback, who is 5 ’10 and 240 lbs, is going to have a BMI that says they are obese,” Mr. Zavala said. “If you look at the way their body is built, or if you ever see them running as a performance athlete, you can tell the person is not obese.”
While the creation of BMI was an innovative development in its time and has been used for centuries by medical professionals to diagnose obesity, it has become less relevant due to other advancements.
“BMI is an imperfect tool,” Mr. Zavala said. “Now science has come so much farther in being able to either help people lose weight or help people understand nutrition.”
