Is BMI true indicator of health?
In July 1998, the National Institutes of Health changed the definition of overweight, defining it as a body mass index of 25 or greater for adults but some studies have shown that that many with BMI levels at the low end of normal are less healthy than those now considered overweight.
The cut-off set by the National Institutes of Health had been 28 for men and 27 for women, making about 29 million Americans suddenly overweight even though they had not gained weight.
The change has been brought after a review of hundreds of studies that matched BMI levels with health risks in large groups of people and brought the US health studies in line with definitions used by the World Health Organization and many other health agencies across the globe.
But it has raised several questions over the real meaning of BMI and its potential drawbacks: dubbing some people who are healthy as overweight or obese who are not really fat, and failing to make any distinction between dangerous and innocuous distributions of body fat.
Some other studies have revealed that many people with BMI levels at the low end of normal are less healthy than those who are overweight as per the new benchmark. On the other hand, some people who are overly fat according to their BMI are actually as healthy as those considered to be of normal weight, as discussed in a new book, "The Obesity Paradox," by Dr Carl J Lavie, a cardiologist in New Orleans, and Kristin Loberg.
According to current criteria, those with a BMI below 18.5 are underweight; those between 18.5 and 24.9 are normal; those between 25 to 29.9 are overweight; and those 30 and higher are obese. The obese are also divided into three grades: Grade 1, in which BMI is 30 to 34.9; Grade 2, 35 to 39.9; Grade 3, 40 and higher.
The cut-off set by the National Institutes of Health had been 28 for men and 27 for women, making about 29 million Americans suddenly overweight even though they had not gained weight.
The change has been brought after a review of hundreds of studies that matched BMI levels with health risks in large groups of people and brought the US health studies in line with definitions used by the World Health Organization and many other health agencies across the globe.
But it has raised several questions over the real meaning of BMI and its potential drawbacks: dubbing some people who are healthy as overweight or obese who are not really fat, and failing to make any distinction between dangerous and innocuous distributions of body fat.
Some other studies have revealed that many people with BMI levels at the low end of normal are less healthy than those who are overweight as per the new benchmark. On the other hand, some people who are overly fat according to their BMI are actually as healthy as those considered to be of normal weight, as discussed in a new book, "The Obesity Paradox," by Dr Carl J Lavie, a cardiologist in New Orleans, and Kristin Loberg.
According to current criteria, those with a BMI below 18.5 are underweight; those between 18.5 and 24.9 are normal; those between 25 to 29.9 are overweight; and those 30 and higher are obese. The obese are also divided into three grades: Grade 1, in which BMI is 30 to 34.9; Grade 2, 35 to 39.9; Grade 3, 40 and higher.
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Labels: Body mass index (BMI), Fat, obesity
posted by G S Iyer at 8:49 AM
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