Sitting around the coffee shop, a few friends gather and chat over hot lattes and chai teas. One has just recently been to the doctor for the annual exam, where her doctor told her she was overweight. According to the chart, she had a Body Mass Index, or BMI of 25.5 which categorized her as overweight. Mortified, she wondered what that meant exactly. A regular exerciser and healthy according to the doctor in all other areas, she rarely drank, didn’t’ smoke and ate pretty healthy. "How could this be?", she wondered, “Seriously, Am I Fat?”
For many, “how much should I weigh” is the first question that comes to mind. Many doctors and health professionals use the BMI as a tool to look at a persons’ weight status. It should be viewed as a screening tool, not necessarily the end all, be all of a person’s weight profile. One important thing to know about the BMI is what it measures and how it is calculated. The BMI is based on height and weight only. It does not take into consideration your personal and very individualized body composition, largely based on genetics. Consider this: A recent study looked at the BMI of Division I college football linemen. Based on BMI, which measures height and weight only, 80% of them would be classified as obese! Because the BMI does not look at exercise and exertion levels, nor does it factor in body fat percentages, it‘s fair to say that for this population, the BMI is not the most useful tool.
A more comprehensive view would be to look at other factors such as a person’s genetics, eating habits, physical activity levels and body composition which also looks at the ratio of muscle and fat in the body. Who has time for this? This is why the BMI is widely used as a guide for health professionals to use. It is easy and inexpensive and can be helpful as a tool to make an initial evaluation of a person’s weight and health profile. The CDC states that while the BMI doesn’t’ measure body fat directly, research shows that it does correlate to other measures of body fat and is a fairly reliable indicator of body fatness for most people.
The conclusion? Get to know your body! In the example above, our coffee shop gal exercises regularly, eats well, stands at 5’9 tall and may be slightly overweight according to the BMI assessment alone. But the X factor is how she feels about herself. She feels healthy, lives an active lifestyle and by all other measures in her physical exam is healthy. When it comes to our health, it is rarely one dimensional and the key is to live as healthy as you can. Use the BMI as an initial indicator and then do a self-assessment; Do I strength train on a regular basis? Am I active and exercise regularly? How do my jeans fit and am I at a size I am comfortable being? Do I move well? Do I have the energy level I want to have?
Chances are if you score in any of the obese categories of the BMI, you have some work to do, and for this reason the BMI does its job. It gets us thinking of ways to be healthier so we can lead longer, more fulfilling lives! For more Info on the BMI, contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov!
