In this article the idea of BMI was discussed. A BMI, which
stands for body mass index, is how doctors measure where someone sits on the
spectrum between underweight and obese. Body mass index estimates the amount of
body fat that a person carries based on their height and weight. This is the
method used by doctors because it is relatively inexpensive and easy to
execute. However, it has been argued that the BMI reading can not be considered
accurate for a few different reasons.
One of these reasons is that when determining a person’s BMI
it is not taken into account that a person’s weight may be heavier due to being
more muscular. Since muscle weighs more than fat an individual could weigh a
certain amount and be deemed obese even though they have relatively low body
fat and are not facing the usual health risks that an obese person would face.
Also, during a BMI reading it is not able to be distinguished which type of fat
a person is carrying. Belly fat, also known as visceral fat, is more harmful to
an individual than fat that is just under the skin. This means that an
individual who is relatively small but has a high level of visceral fat could
be more at risk for health issues than someone who has a higher number of the
scale but a lower level of visceral fat. Though BMI is not the best way to
distinguish where someone stands on the weight class spectrum, other ways that would
be more accurate are often more expensive and therefore not utilized.
This article stuck out to me because I had a friend recently
who called me crying after a doctor’s appointment she had. She just recently
had a baby and had went in for a check-up where they took her BMI reading. She
was told by her doctor that she was obese. That word alone has so much
negativity attached to it that it caused my already stressed and hormonal
friend to basically break down. My friend is around 5’5 and though a little
chubby she is not what ANYONE would think of when they think of the word obese.
This got me thinking. I too have been discouraged by my own
BMI reading but quickly learned to not let it define me. However, many people
take being told they are obese as a serious confidence blow and self esteem shot.
Some may use it as a tool to start living healthier but to others it just makes
them severely depressed, as it did my friend. If doctors and health
professionals are going to use a term that makes an individual feel so
negatively about themselves, shouldn’t it be based on a more accurate science? If
there is a more accurate way to determine an individuals body composition then I
believe doctors owe it to their patient to utilize that instead of doing what
is easy and has been done for years but may be based on not sound science.
My advice to all you out there, Ignore the BMI reading,
ignore the scale, and don’t let your weight class define you. Maintaining a
healthy weight is important for living an overall healthy lifestyle, strive to
change your health status not the weight class in which you fall!
