A case against using BMI

jen_lync

I am sure we have all been here before (I feel like this is universal), but recently I registered with a new doctor and therefore had to get my height and weight measurements taken. No one likes getting their weight taken, but more than that, I absolutely despise being given a number (BMI) afterwards and a condescending lecture from my doctor that I need to lose weight because I am in the wrong 'category'.

The worst part is that I feel like I should feel bad about it, and the result is that it careens me back towards body-loathing, when over the past year I have worked so hard to make fitness and healthy eating about body-love. And doing it this way (no crazy low diet, no anger at myself for having an ice cream bar, no anger at myself for missing a day of running) has made my current (albeit slow) weight loss sustained and one of the only times in my life when I have not constantly berated myself every day for my weight. And as a result, I have slowly started to disentangle my weight from my sense of worth, which for a long time was very low.

But of course, all of that comes crashing down when a doctor lectures me on my BMI, which according to their measurement leaves me slightly in the 'obese' category, despite the fact that with other body fat measurements (waist to height, etc) I sit squarely in 'healthy'. And despite the fact that I have changed a lot of habits over the past 2 years and lost over 20 pounds, while continuing to lose more. Even then, there are so many different body types and sizes, is it actually possible to put a number on it? I think that if you feel healthy, and are healthy and active, why does any number matter anyways?

All this to say, argh!

In getting angry about this, I found the below link from NPR's website on why the BMI is outdated and bogus. Hurrah!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439