5/5/2023 0 Comments Body mass index calculator cdc![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() For Researchers on Obesity: Historical Review of Extra Body Weight Definitions. Keys A, Fidanza F, Karvonen MJ, et al.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A major challenge is that, statistically, it’s normal in this country to be overweight, but each day when you’re walking around with excess weight, it’s increasing your risk for chronic conditions, and that’s true no matter ,” she says. “There are so many different studies that have looked at elevated BMI risk in many different populations, and what it uniformly shows is that a higher BMI is bad for you. “If BMI were only used in its original form and not changed, then we’d have to worry,” says Bleich. Bleich explains that BMI is still useful as a tool because of the way it has evolved over time. “There is definite truth that the BMI was tested and validated in a white male population,” says Sara Bleich, PhD, a professor of public health policy at the Harvard T.H. The BMI scale was developed by studying European men - does it apply to everyone else, specifically people in the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities? Likely not. Those with a higher BMI tend to carry more pounds of muscle compared with those with a lower BMI, which has a protective effect in terms of overall functionality, fall risk, and overall immunity. The reason for this is not fully known, but most likely it’s multifactorial. And according to a previous meta-analysis, a BMI of 27 is the best in terms of decreased risk of mortality among this age group. People over age 65 A BMI of less than 23 in people older than 65 is associated with a higher health risk.Nonpregnant women Compared with men, women generally have a higher percentage of body fat, according to research.This is so they can supply nourishment to the baby it’s not an indication of long-term health risks. Women who are pregnant or nursing Women typically have a higher body weight and body fat percentage when nursing or pregnant, per the CDC.Thus, an athlete with a high BMI may not necessarily be unhealthy. Athletes People who are extremely active have heavier bones and more lean mass (think muscle), resulting in higher body weights and higher BMIs, according to a previous study.īut lean muscle mass can actually increase metabolism, as well as help ward off conditions like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, according to another study.Asian people The BMI scale is not a good measurement for individuals who are Asian, who may see increased health risks before their height and weight calculation qualifies as overweight (BMI of 25 or higher).Īs the American Heart Association points out, Asians are more likely to hold fat around their waistline, and this abdominal (called “visceral”) fat is especially dangerous.īecause of this, doctors are encouraged to use a different BMI scale for Asians, with lower BMI cutoff points.Groups for Which BMI May Be InaccurateīMI is not always the best measure of body fat and overall health, especially if you’re in any of the following groups: “Body mass index doesn’t show the difference between muscle and fat, so it doesn’t always accurately predict when weight could lead to health problems,” says Kim Larson, RDN, a health and wellness coach at Total Health in Woodinville, Washington. Increasingly, the scale has come under scrutiny as more and more people are being placed in its high-risk categories of overweight or obese. Using a weight-to-height index devised by Adolphe Quetelet in 1832 (called the Quetelet index), Keys came up with the body mass index as a straightforward way to measure body weight in relation to height.Īs more people became more overweight, and the health risks associated with being overweight became clearer, epidemiologists around the world began using Keys’s body mass index approach as a way to track disease risk factors in the general population.ĭespite its wide use, BMI is flawed. Keys looked at about 7,400 men from five European countries and analyzed their adiposity-body density and subcutaneous fat thickness, two measures of body weight. In 1972, a researcher by the name of Ancel Keys, PhD, coined the term “body mass index” in a paper titled "Indices of Relative Weight and Obesity," originally published in the Journal of Chronic Diseases. BMI was invented because researchers, medical professionals, the government, and insurance companies needed a simple way to track health risk among the people in the United States. ![]()
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