The many flaws of the Body Mass Index
Having worked in gyms for the better part of my career, I had several body composition analyses performed, which included the Body Mass Index (BMI). I knew something was fishy when my BMI indicated I was hovering around the obesity category, yet my body fat was relatively low and muscle content high.
Not only does the BMI not measure body fat, but it also doesn't consider age, sex, or race, yet the medical and health insurance industries use it as a primary data point in determining a patient's health status.
In this article, we learn about the dubious origins of how the BMI was developed and accepted, how it's possible to be "overweight" and healthy, and why specialists worry that the surging demand for drugs like Ozempic will exacerbate reliance on BMI as a solo diagnostic tool.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03143-x?sponsored=0&position=...
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Slipstream
Too many people have been on the receiving end of
one-size-fits-all solutions and become disappointed, disillusioned, or depressed. People are individuals and need to be treated as such.
Well Street
Agreed. However, treating people as individuals requires money and resources that the medical and insurance industries don't want to part with.
Slipstream
Right you are!