Hi all, so I've approached weight loss in part by monitoring my BMI. Recently however, a friend of mine told me that it has been "debunked." When searching about that on Google I found this link from NPR: Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus. In particular, one thing it said that piqued my interest was this:
There is no physiological reason to square a person's height (Quetelet had to square the height to get a formula that matched the overall data. If you can't fix the data, rig the formula!). Moreover, it ignores waist size, which is a clear indicator of obesity level.
Now, I'd hope that most, if not all, of us are aware that the BMI is not the end-all authority on fitness or overall body health (points the article makes as well). But about a year ago I was at a healthy BMI. Since then I gained 30 pounds and have lost 10 of that on my journey back.
My waist size at a healthy BMI was obviously much smaller than my current weight at 20 pounds heavier. I can't fit into the clothes I wore a year ago in a comfortable manner. I've personally found the BMI to be a pretty good guideline to what is a healthy weight at a certain height.
And on that note... height clearly has an impact on what your healthy BMI is likely to be. I know that at my current weight that someone much taller than me is likely not as fat and closer to a healthy weight. How does that not make sense? Unless I'm misunderstanding something.
I don't know, maybe I'm biased, but I've never felt like the BMI was ridiculous and always approached it with the mindset that it was a simple guideline and not an authority on overall health.
What do you guys think? Has it been debunked?
Edit: While I appreciate the instant downvote, that doesn't really tell me anything...
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