Tuesday, October 2, 2007
BMI Fact or Fiction?
If you haven't been living under a rock for the last 10 years you've probably heard of the Body Mass Index or BMI. Your BMI is a formula used by the health industry to determine you ideal weight. It is based off of your height, weight, and gender. If you are below 18.5 than you are under weight 18.5 to 24.9 is normal 25 to 29.9 overweight and 30 or above is considered obesity. The problem with BMI is a man that is 5'8" would need to weigh no more than 163 pounds to be in the normal category. Do we need a better system for measuring obesity? I believe we do. Health insurance companies use the BMI to determine if a person qualifies for coverage as do life insurance companies. The real problem is that the BMI doesn't take into account muscle mass. If you are a weight lifter with 22 inch biceps you will be considered overweight. I think it is time to revise a decades old system to fit the modern world.
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I agree you on this one. I almost had my insurance canceled because my BMI put me as obease. I am 5'11" 275lbs. But I also have 21" biceps and bench press 375 lbs. By no means am I in perfect shape, I'm working to lose a few pounds, but I am in better shape than most of the people in my company that are in the "normal" category. BMI is way outdated, I think we should by body fat percentage, it's more accurate.
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