We all love to be able to tell, how are we doing in the middle of an six month exercise stint.
Most doctors, state medical boards, the CDC, and now the American Medical Association is considering BMI or Body Mass Index as the sixth vital sign.
How is Body Mass Calculated? BMI is calculated as :
BMI =( Weight in Pounds / Height in inches^2) x 703
Other methods include calipers (skin-fold measurement), underwater weighing, bioelectrical impedance, and computerized topography. According to CDC these are "very expensive". Currently a skin-fold or fat caliper is $3 (yes, three dollar) online. A donut with a medium cup of coffee is more expensive at inexpensive donut chains.
Is Body Mass Index truly the best to use to check for obesity?
Absolutely not! According to the NFL, an average American football player is 6'1" and weighs in at 245 pounds. That would make them have a BMI of 32.32. That makes them obese and even with the additional information of the waist circumference, it puts them into the high risk group.
The Body Mass Index is also dangerous on the other side of the "bell curve" of average. When men stop working out, and loose chest, and leg muscle, develop a potbelly, they can have a normal, or fit BMI with the ratios, yet be clear on visual examination that they are obese.
Where are we going with all this?
Take a look at some life insurance companies. Insurance companies do not look at you. They look at actuary tables, and statistical data they collect from your doctor. If your doctor puts your height at 5'11" and 240#s. You will be marked as obese, irrelevant that your true body fat percentage might be at or below 10%.
Take a look at some doctors prescribing medication. When was the last time you spent a whole hour with your doctor at a visit? It was the resident or the intern, both which are trying to learn on you, who entered the information to onto the charts. The chances that they mark you obese because "the book says so" is not remote.
Take a look at how the general public self medicate on various diet drugs, suplements and diet foods. They look at Body Mass Index. According to the British Medical Association, there is an increase in anorexia and bulimia.
The only truly precise body fat measurement is in an under-water tank or DEXA x-ray test. Since most people cannot afford such service every day, the next best solution is a household body-fat composition measuring bathroom scale.
Stop pushing BMI, and replace it with a more realistic measurement methods.
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