Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus

[spezzy]

Great short little article

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439

[Diglett]

A few of my teammates and I were talking about this recently, and about how some of them were classified as almost or actually overweight based on BMI, and obviously weren't unhealthy or out of shape. (And then it degenerated into a "I'm not overweight. Poke (this muscle)." right outside a restaurant.)

I never gave any thought to whether or not it had a theoretical basis until you posted that, but apparently, it's just a 200 year old curve fit. Point 4 in that article = fantastic. Good job, CDC.

But if you like graphs, check this out:

How accurately does BMI predict fatness in college atheletes and nonathletes?

(It won't let you get to the next page without logging in, but you can search the article on google and click through to each page individially, and somehow that's ok.)

[Gowaduv]

The article hits all of the high points, and this may not warrant its own "point," but it was about 1998/99 when the BMI numbers were shifted about 10 points lower for "overweight" and "obese." So overnight, you could go from "normal" to the highly stigmatized "obese." Guess what also happened around that time- bariatric procedures started to be covered by insurance companies. Suddenly you're "obese" and your doctor is talking about this gastric bypass procedure that is scary as hell (because no one had these procedures about 15 years ago, it was the domain of people who were literally eating themselves to death) and your insurance company is like "hell yeah, you just kick over your $1000 deductible and we'll only charge you 20% of the hospital fee when you're all done." Bam! That's how you build a new medical industry overnight.

BMI=fail.

[1fever]

What is sad is alot of Army careers hinge on this highly flawed test. I have larger olbigues due to the twisting in my job which increases my waste size. I effectively measure at 19% body fat on the standard height, neck, waste test but only 14% on a bodpod. But this new test called the body adiposity index seems to have promise. See below.

http://www.metrolic.com/body-adiposity-index-might-replace-bmi-for-determining-fat-percentage-162832/

[spezzy]

Interesting.

I just used the BAI to calculate my BF, it actually says that my BMI is 24 but my BAI is 26% bodyfat.

I'm more at about 18-19% (have actually been tested with calipers recently)

It's still not taking into consideration so many things (like the fact that I'm completely not bottom heavy)

That being said, it's pretty much impossible to have one calculation that works for everyone.

[1fever]

Yeah... maybe its only accurate on men, I guess if you want accurate then your gonna have to pay for a Bodpod which is very accurate. They run $35-$50 for a session.

[MarcTheEngineer]

It's funny when people (such as myself) who are actively involved in making themselves healthier are actually looking to increase their BMI out of the "healthy" range

[spezzy]

Yeah... maybe its only accurate on men, I guess if you want accurate then your gonna have to pay for a Bodpod which is very accurate. They run $35-$50 for a session.

haha right.

i think its more body shape than male/female though.

algorithms that take into consider hip measurement always say im fatter than i am... ones that take waist measurement say im thinner than i am.

just the way things go

[Malva]

Hmm - this article is interesting to me as regards my kids. Last year's BMI report (from pub. school) on my then six yo indicated that he was overweight. I have talked to a lot of people about this and pondered it at great length - because this kid seems totally normal to me. He is not one of these little butterball kids at all. Just regular.

And the main point here is, I started to wonder if I had a realistic idea of what a normal kid should look like. I mean there are a lot of overweight and obese children in our community - not teens, but little kids. Am I so used to these extremes as what an overweight kid looks like, that I can't recognize that my own child is overweight? Because I swear the kid looks fine.

In the time since that report, I have still thought about it from time to time, and after reading the article I started looking at the child again - when he is crouching down, like in play, you can see his backbone and ribs. That sounds kind of awful when I write it but it looks normal to me, for a kid. He does have a little bit of plumpness in the thighs, perhaps. I just ran his BMI again for his current weight and height and now it gives him a reading of 18.2, in the 90th percentile, or at risk of becoming overweight. ??? Well I guess every american is at risk for becoming overweight, but really? Because if something dangerous is going on with his health I want to know.

I don't know where I am going with this except to say that the bmi has been a source of confusion for me with this case, and I am glad to have some info that maybe indicates that I am not crazy and the kid looks normal!!LOL

If you really want to torture yourself there is an ideal body weight calculator that you can use to see what you "should" be - the difference between Max's current weight and his ideal weight? 3 pounds. Good grief he grew 3" in about 4 months recently. I just don't know -- the bmi seems even more ridiculous when applied to kids - there has to be a better way for schools to give parents information.

[Mad Rocker]

Because if something dangerous is going on with his health I want to know.

I don't know where I am going with this except to say that the bmi has been a source of confusion for me with this case, and I am glad to have some info that maybe indicates that I am not crazy and the kid looks normal!!LOL

If you really want to torture yourself there is an ideal body weight calculator that you can use to see what you "should" be - the difference between Max's current weight and his ideal weight? 3 pounds. Good grief he grew 3" in about 4 months recently. I just don't know -- the bmi seems even more ridiculous when applied to kids - there has to be a better way for schools to give parents information.

I seem to remember being taught that BMI was only to be applied to adults, so I don't think you should worry.

If you are really worried: see a doctor. From what you've said though, he seems fine - especially as he's still young. Lots of kids are pudgy when they're younger...lots then grow out of it. Some don't, but that depends on diet...

As long as you're feeding him properly and he has no medical condition, I think it's quite safe to ignore the BMI test...

[Raincloak]

A child is not a miniature adult. Their shape and body content are completely different (have you ever seen a skinny baby? I sure hope not), and kids grow at different speeds, so even if your kid's body is bigger/smaller than average, it'll probably even out in the end (or he might just be bigger/smaller than average, adults can vary too). I've never heard of the BMI being used to grade a kid's health, and it seems pretty silly to me. When I was a kid my pediatrician checked my height and weight against a percentile chart (50th percentile = average, 25th percentile = much lower than average, etc.)

I'm not currently a parent, but I don't think it's great to obsess over a kid's weight unless they are really plainly underweight or overweight, or their physical endurance is way below normal. If you're feeding him right (easy on the sugar and juice) and he runs around like other kids and his color is good and he sleeps well, he's probably just fine. I had visible backbone and ribs as a kid and I used to wonder how it was that adults had their shoulders sticking out further than their spines ... but eventually, of course, I grew up and the same thing happened to me.

I think if you eat right and move right in general, good health is likely to follow. Micromanaging a kid's weight strikes me as even less smart than trying to do it for an adult, because obesity in adults is still barely understood and growing children are more complicated.

[freefit guy]

BMI listed me as overweight when I was at 5% body fat. After that, I stopped paying attention.

[Lowenna]

My BMI is 24.8 so in the healthy range (just), but I can tell you I'm not healthy. I have sod all muscle and am carrying all my weight as fat, I have very little cardio fitness and am very weak. Being falsely told that they're healthy might make someone less aware of health issues complacent, they might think that this is okay.

Couldn't agree more that BMI completely fails to take into account individual circumstances, it is far too much of a blunt instrument.

Body fat % is better, but not that much better. An athlete who works out well most days, eats lots of healthy foods and has 9% body fat is more than likely healthy. Someone who under eats, but only eats junk foods, doesn't do any exercise and has 9% body fat isn't.

[GymratAnarchist]

As all have said, the BMI has some serious flaws. I register as overweight on it as well, and I'm =/< 10%BF if I reckon correctly. I tried the BAI the other day and came out around 16-21% BF which was like "WHAT?" Turns out the BAI tends to give a median reading of 18.4% and 21.9% to African-Americans and Mexican-Americans (respectively...and the only populations on whom this new calculation was tested) with sub 10% BF. My BF sits around 10% or below and my dad was African-American...so, yeah. One size does not necessarily fit all with this one, either LOL

[sumdawgtwigg]

great article!

" Because the BMI is a single number between 1 and 100 (like a percentage) that comes from a mathematical formula, it carries an air of scientific authority. But it is mathematical snake oil." My favorite line right there.

[jbzero]

Like many of the guys here, my "healthy weight" according to BMI < my LBM.

So I would have to starve myself to death to get "healthy."

And yet people still use this metric because they are lazy.

Fail.

For kids managing what they eat is more important than bodyfat, if only to keep their focus on doing right rather than looking right.