What BMI doesn't tell you about your health

The way we define obesity is flawed.

The body mass index, better known as BMI, is a measure of obesity that has been in use for over 200 years. It was a formula created by Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet. It takes your weight (sorry my fellow Americans, everyone else is on the metric system) in kilograms divides and divides it by height in meters squared. And from this you get a number that represent your total body mass relative to your height and weight. The ranges go from underweight to obese, and one decimal point can tip you in either direction. BMI has been used to study obesity in large populations, and for the most part it’s okay for those types of studies. However, when individual health is the topic at hand, using the body mass index can make judging a person’s health a little bit trickier.

See the state of obesity in your area:

CDC’s BMI considerations for practitioners:

And to check Marshawn Lynchs stats visit:

[bassman_]

Be honest with yourself. You should be able to tell whether it's muscle or fat causing your high BMI.

[dboi]

BMI is accurate for most people because most people don't workout

[saalihasadiq]

Everyone in the comments is just talking about obese people, but I think this video was trying to highlight how people with "healthy" BMI should look at a better reference for their health.

[Shibasu_]

Most of the commenters didn't watch the full Video. The Point this Video is trying to make is "While it can be helpful, the BMI shouldn't be the only way to understand the Human Body."

[lazyperfectionist]

Let's remember, here. BMI was intended for measuring the overall health of _populations;_ not _individuals._

[angelTajchy]

if you are a professional athlete you probably don't need to calculate your BMI since to you it's irrelevant. It is relevant for the average population since most people are not athletes and so don't have that high of a % of muscle.

[agustinperuzzi]

Video: bmi measurement is right 80% of the time, but it doesn't show the full picture
Comments: how dare you say bmi doesn't work, it works 80% of the time!!!

[patrickstorm]

I find that most people who criticize BMI coincidentally don’t have enough muscle for BMI to not accurately describe them.

[bramslurink]

Not one doctor in the whole wide world would focus solely on the BMI of one of their patients. No-one claims BMI gives a reliable image of one's body composition. It is just used in rough assessments and over big populations.

[Muhamedim]

As a med student, when I learned the BMI formula, I was told to look out for Athletes and pregnant women. I appreciate the subtilises when the person's BMI is under 30 and over 18, but beyond that it's pretty obvious.

[ke]

Most people are NOT professional athletes, so let’s start there. Also, it’s just another tool for weight and health purposes which does help many average people get in track to be healthy.

[KPopsicleSNSD]

Lol this is dumb, athletes don't need to use BMI, they know they're healthy... But most people don't have that much muscle.

[theupallnateshow]

I find this video to be stating the obvious. I mean, the BMI is designed to act as a guideline for the average population. Of course it doesn't have the nuance to take into account a whole range of factors, but it's not designed for that.

[achrefjouini]

Why they never speak about underweight poeple 🤔🤔

[CorderralLewis]

I like how everyone is saying the exact same thing and yet missed the point.

This video: BMI doesn’t tell the full story of your health as it can’t tell you about your body composition.

The comments: aThEleTeS

[Frost]

Like any health indicator, BMI is a single tool that should be interpreted along with other health indicators. No health indicator is perfect. As a healthcare professional, BMI is a highly useful tool when all the factors affecting the person's health are considered.

[frmcf]

I'm off to measure my height in square metres.

[noahi.]

They say pairing BMI with other factors, ( *especially waist circumference* ) is a better assessment.

[PillarofAutum]

I was applying to the Air force, right. The recruiter asked me my height and weight (during that time, I was 5'1 and 145lbs). He said I was overweight and that they required for people on my category to be less than 135. The thing he did not realize was I played soccer and majority of my mass is muscle. When I went back to measure, now I'm 135lbs, he states I'm still overweight. It's not worth it, cause my Dr. Says that going lower, will also damage. Some people don't realize that BMI is not the whole picture

[asemi]

This is all true, but the problem with talking about BMI being bullshit is that the majority of people who pick up on this and keep bringing it up are not professional athletes with a lot of muscle, but actually genuinely overweight people who prefer keeping on their blindfold rather than take steps to get healthier.