BMI still valuable for health assessment.

jrmartinezb
jrmartinezb Posts: 147 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
BMI has gotten a lot of criticism for being used a predictor of health risks. Body fat is quite often said to be a much better option. A recently published study compared BMI, BF% and other measures as predictors for various health issues such as high blood sugar, high blood pressure and cholesterol. The results seem to validate BMI as a valuable tool for clinical practice:

BMI was the best predictor for blood pressure.
Waist circumference and waist-hip ratio were the best predictors for blood sugar.
All measures were about as good for cholesterol.

So, while BMI certainly isn’t the one thing to look at, it is still a useful parameter to watch. Mirror and measuring tape definitely have their place, but so does the scale. What actually surprises me a little is that BF% isn’t actually the better predictor of any of the things the researchers studied.



Thoughts?


Article
http://www.emaxhealth.com/1020/forget-about-body-shape-bmi-predicts-health-risks

Full report
http://www.obesityresearchclinicalpractice.com/article/S1871-403X(12)00265-7/fulltext

edited to add links

Replies

  • feast4thebeast
    feast4thebeast Posts: 210 Member
    It has me as obese and my skinny out of shape work colleague as ideal.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    I disagree, OP. And my very thin, died at age 41 father probably would have, too. That whole blood pressure thing is not just about BMI.
  • cjh022
    cjh022 Posts: 88 Member
    Interesting! I've always thought bmi is a valuable tool but also that it should be used in addition to bf% etc... at home bf% calculations and bmi should never be the ONLY numbers considered but can be useful. As long ad people understand that almost nothing is exact, any number/calculation can be used as an estimate for MOTIVATION. Even if it is not accurate, the fact that it is going down (in most cases) is great motivation!
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    It's a useful tool when used in the proper context, but it's not the gospel. You could say the same thing for scale weight, body fat percentage, measurements, etc. No single tool is all that useful, unless it's placed in the proper context.
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    It's a useful tool when used in the proper context

    Exactly right.

    Unfortunately the frankly sloppy application of BMI by medical professionals hasn't helped anyone.
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
    It's a useful tool when used in the proper context, but it's not the gospel. You could say the same thing for scale weight, body fat percentage, measurements, etc. No single tool is all that useful, unless it's placed in the proper context.

    All of this is absolutely true.

    Also, please link the report you referenced in your original post for those of us who would like to read more.
  • jrmartinezb
    jrmartinezb Posts: 147 Member
    Sorry, forgot to add them:

    Article
    http://www.emaxhealth.com/1020/forget-about-body-shape-bmi-predicts-health-risks

    Full report
    http://www.obesityresearchclinicalpractice.com/article/S1871-403X(12)00265-7/fulltext
  • drchu
    drchu Posts: 9 Member
    I once attended an obesity lecture by a renamed Ph D and the main topic was the validity of BMI as a measurement of obesity and its association with metabolic complications, and this Dr. started by saying if someone looks fat he is fat, (lol) my point is the mirror does count.

    On the other hand something that is very important in predicting cardiometabolic complications is the distribution of the body fat, when fat distributes mostly in the abdomen it has a greater relation with metabolic complications (commonly know as apple obesity) whereas periferic distribution of fat; in the thighs and hips (pear obesity) is related to mecanical complications.

    I hope this helps. And thanks for the interesting post =D
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
    You know what's even better, taking your blood pressure and having a blood test...

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