If you visit a doctor, you'll almost certainly be asked to step on the scale and get your body mass index (B.M.I.), which is derived by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height squared. The concept originated in the 1800s to categorize the population by importance, says Amy Lee, M.D., an internal medicine physician and weight specialist in Southern California. People might be "underweight," "regular," "overweight," or "fat," according to her. However, there are significant issues with the measurement, and the way it is used can cause more harm than good; many experts understand this point. Here are just a handful of the reasons why the topic is so complicated:

There is no such thing as "unhealthy" and "overweight."

People with higher B.M.I.s have a greater risk of developing certain health disorders, although there is no proof that this is the case for individuals. Things can get a little oversimplified given our culture's focus on thinness and B.M.I. Patients with high B.M.I.s are often denied treatment (such as IVF or surgery), or weight loss is promoted as a cure-all. Consider a patient who is experiencing knee discomfort: The doctor can identify weight as a problem, recommend weight loss as the cure, and send the patient on their way without additional diagnostic tests or therapies," says Paul Brochu of Nova Southeastern University, an associate professor of psychology who studies weight stigma. While knee discomfort is more likely to be diagnosed and treated if the complainant is not obese, this is not the case if they are. Getting mistreated by a doctor might deter overweight people from seeking medical attention, which could exacerbate existing health concerns. In addition, doctors can miss a condition that would have been obvious on an X-ray or other imaging.

It is possible to be overweight and healthy or lean and unhealthy. Nearly half of 'overweight' persons and almost a third of 'obese' people were found to have good cardiometabolic health in big research, according to Brochu. However, over a third of "average" weight individuals were not. According to a study, approximately 75 million persons in the United States are incorrectly labeled as healthy based on their B.M.I.

Metabolically healthy persons make up 47 percent of the overweight population.

Race and ethnicity have a role in a person's success.

While B.M.I. is computed in the same method for everyone, research has shown that the figure's relevance varies depending on the demographics in which it is applied. Daniel Majid, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.S.M.B.S., a board-certified obesity specialist in Livingston, New Jersey, notes that for the Indian population, "we know their odds of [problems connected with] metabolic syndromes like diabetes and heart disease increase up with a B.M.I. of 27." Compared to the B.M.I. of 30 for white individuals, this is lower. Dr. Majid adds that the number is significantly lower among Taiwanese-born persons. As a result, a person with a B.M.I. of less than 30 may be at risk.

According to a previous study, a higher B.M.I. may be favorable for Black people, which found that the B.M.I. linked with living the longest is between 23 and 25 for white people and between 23 and 30 for African-Americans. Misclassifying African-Americans as "overweight" may contribute to a pre-existing racial health discrepancy.

In calculating B.M.I., there are no considerations for the form or composition of the individual's body.

As a result, Dr. Lee argues, muscular persons are commonly referred to as "overweight," resulting in stigma and refusal of therapy. As a result, B.M.I. estimates don't consider where you carry your weight. According to research, having a larger waist-to-hip ratio is more closely associated with an increased heart attack risk than having a higher B.M.I.

There is no correlation between having a higher B.M.I. and having a longer life expectancy.

Those who are "overweight" have a reduced mortality risk than those who are "normal weight," but those who are "obese" have a mortality risk equal to those who are "normal weight," according to Brochu.

Women are 18 times more likely to have a heart attack if their waist-to-hip ratio is higher than their B.M.I.

What's the point of using B.M.I. in the first place?

The data point has been the foundation of decades of health research since it is simple to calculate and inexpensive to monitor. Our health care system is also heavily influenced by it. The coding system used by doctors to inform insurance companies of the services they bill for, for example, includes B.M.I. When used with other indicators, Dr. Majid and other doctors found it a useful screening tool. Dr. Majid says they have "a dialogue based on a patient's ethnicity, family history, lifestyle, age, exercise level, and if someone is perimenopausal" and "blood pressure, pulse, cholesterol, fasting glucose, fatty liver disease, and body composition." Dr.

Many other health care providers, including psychiatrists like Dr. Bruce Schneier, think the B.M.I. promotes the false notion that a person's weight is directly proportional to their health and wellbeing. The emphaInstead, the is on weight loss as a health outcome, and Brochu adds that this can sometimes lead to injury since "weight loss is pushed at any cost." "Patients of all sizes benefit more from an emphasis on health than weight."

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IS THE BMI ACCURATE - IT'S A MISLEADING INDICATOR OF HEALTH, ACCORDING TO THE EXPERTS