Why BMI Is Not the Best Way to Determine Your Health
If you’ve ever been to the doctor, you’ve probably heard your doc mention your BMI (body mass index). But what is a BMI exactly? BMI, or Body Mass Index, is a measurement based on your height and weight, and it’s widely used to determine if you’re in a healthy weight range. A BMI under 18.5 is considered too thin, and therefore unhealthy. A BMI over 25 is considered too fat and therefore unhealthy. But as it turns out, BMI may not be the best way to size up your shape.
BMI measurement doesn’t consider where the weight is located and it doesn’t reveal anything about the makeup of your body, such as how much muscle vs. fat you have. That’s why conclusions based only on this number can be misleading. A person may weigh more, be very lean (has more muscle) and have a higher, unhealthy BMI as a result. At the same time, another person may be considered “skinny” and healthy because of her light weight compared to her height. But, if we took a closer look, we may find that she doesn’t have adequate muscle mass to support her weight, still putting her at risk for disease like Type II diabetes. So, simply looking on a chart for your height and weight doesn’t tell the full story.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal addresses the drawbacks to BMI and why doctors continue to use it. Read what they have to say here.
At Cōpare, we look at a body fat percentage as a better indicator of health. We track a person’s body composition very closely and work with clients to get them into a healthy body fat percentage range.
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