If your healthcare team uses BMI as a measure of health, it’s important to have a nuanced discussion with them to understand how they use it in their practice to inform next steps, lifestyle suggestions, or medical interventions - and to make sure you’re comfortable with that. That’s why, as an article in Social Theory & Health put it, “the contemporary push towards the standardization of obesity measurement and desire to link body weight and health is not indicative of BMI’s ability to accurately diagnose obesity in individuals or populations.” In addition, this has led to the stigmatization of larger bodies, which is a health hazard in itself. In addition, some people may have normal BMIs but be struggling with high blood pressure or conditions like prediabetes. Many people have bodies at higher “overweight” ranges of the BMI scale but also have blood pressure, blood sugar, and other important health measures that are perfectly healthy. ![]() It’s a flawed calculation, the AMA and other experts say, because it doesn’t give the entire picture of your health. The American Medical Association (AMA), for example, updated their policy recommendations in June 2023, stating that physicians should take risk factors such as weight circumference and genetics into account when assessing a person’s weight status and not rely solely on BMI. Today, though, the BMI scale has entered a storm of controversy and fallen out of favor in many health circles. ![]() Sounds simple enough, right?Īt one point, it was: Clinicians and patients would use that calculation as a determinant of health. Those numbers are then plugged into a formula that gives you your body mass index, or BMI. As soon as you walk into the examination room at the doctor’s office, you’re asked to step on a scale for your weight and height.
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