The Reality of Body Mass Index

miel-et-sel:

> Body Mass Index does not take into account muscle mass, bone structure, race, nationality, pregnancy, disabilities, amputations, or fitness. As a result, everyone who is not an able-bodied white male of medium build and fitness is more likely to be labeled with an “unhealthy” BMI score.

> The BMI system was not ever meant to be used as a way to categorize individuals; it was designed to observe trends in populations with a specific caution written into its introduction that it should not be used on an individual basis under any circumstances.

> Insurance companies shrank the “healthy” weight category in 1998 in order to accommodate a third category of unhealthy weight, obesity. Overnight, millions of Americans went from being in the ideal BMI range to being considered overweight. This decision made it easier for insurance companies to deny consumers coverage.

> Generally speaking, the statistics indicate that people in the overweight BMI category (NOT the ideal weight BMI category) have the longest lifespan.

> On average, fashion models have a BMI of about 16, which is well into the medically underweight range. We are surrounded all day, every day, by images of people who are very thin and furthermore photoshopped to appear even thinner, which leads most people to perceive those of healthy weight for their height and bone structure as being too large, including ourselves.