Finally! Research that blasts BMI
I've come to detest those BMI tables over the years. It's a purely personal thing. You see, people like me who are curvaceous (and not naturally thin) and definitely heavier than we look don't do so well against this torture table of numbers. I've always said, "eat and exercise for the health of it and let the pounds fall where they may". The truth is, sometimes the numbers (of weight to height), just don't tell the whole story. Sometimes it isn't as simple as this. Factoring in whether or not the extra weight is fat or muscle mass, or fat deposited in the less dangerous thigh and buttocks area or in the more dangerous visceral abdominal fat area is not part of the equation. Remember muscle weighs more than fat!
(A person's BMI or body mass index is a comparison of a person's height to weight. It is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared.)
Well, just the other day an analysis of the BMI related to heart disease risk was published in the Aug. 19 issue of the journal The Lancet. The researchers looked at 40 previously published studies involving 250,000 patients with heart disease followed for an average of four years.
And you know what they found?
* The patients with the lowest BMIs had the highest rates of death from heart disease and all other causes.
* Patients considered to be overweight but not obese, (I AM A MEMBER OF THIS DISTINGUISHED GROUP), had lower risk for death from any cause than patients whose BMIs fell in the normal range.
The researchers suggested that this doesn't mean carrying excess weight is good for heart patients, but it does suggest that better ways of measuring true obesity are needed!
According to one of the researchers, "Underweight patients often have very little muscle mass and they often have other health problems." Pardon me while I scream, "Hah!" "Told you so!"
~~Elaine
Related Topics: 13 Healthy Habits to Improve Your Life, Do You Really Need to Lose Weight?
Technorati Tags: BMI, obesity, underweight, heartdisease
(A person's BMI or body mass index is a comparison of a person's height to weight. It is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared.)
Well, just the other day an analysis of the BMI related to heart disease risk was published in the Aug. 19 issue of the journal The Lancet. The researchers looked at 40 previously published studies involving 250,000 patients with heart disease followed for an average of four years.
And you know what they found?
* The patients with the lowest BMIs had the highest rates of death from heart disease and all other causes.
* Patients considered to be overweight but not obese, (I AM A MEMBER OF THIS DISTINGUISHED GROUP), had lower risk for death from any cause than patients whose BMIs fell in the normal range.
The researchers suggested that this doesn't mean carrying excess weight is good for heart patients, but it does suggest that better ways of measuring true obesity are needed!
According to one of the researchers, "Underweight patients often have very little muscle mass and they often have other health problems." Pardon me while I scream, "Hah!" "Told you so!"
~~Elaine
Related Topics: 13 Healthy Habits to Improve Your Life, Do You Really Need to Lose Weight?
Technorati Tags: BMI, obesity, underweight, heartdisease
12 Comments:
I was shocked when my doctor told me to try to lose a few pounds when I look and feel perfectly healthy. Maybe she'll change her tune now. Hah!
I think most people fall into a stress - loseweight- stress - gain weight pattern. Your weight is a number that does not give you your complete health analysis. Stress over a few pounds may make you gain them. Stress is our enemy especially in the battle of the bulge. I think we need to approach health in a more loving and holistic way where our bodies will arrive at their natural, healthy, genetically influenced body weight.
Try reading "Body Clutter" by FlyLady Cilley. Just love yourself.
AMEN, I was very upset when my daughter came home from the doctor near tears cause he said she needed to lose weight. Now my poor daughter has inherited our family shortness, but she is also large breasted and has legs of steel from dancing. It's this kind of crap that make our children think pencil thin is attractive.
I totally agree! PLus I think the BMI should take in gender which most calculator don't. My fiance' and I can wear the same pair of PJ pants, and we are only an inch in hight differnce yet my BMI score is in the overweight group and his is in the the normal group. Most of my weight I find I carry in my breasts.
Thank goodness the BMI has been scientificly refuted. As a short athletic person it was always quite disheartening to me. I am strong and my heart is in good conditon.
You know it is not nice to say "Ha! I told you so" is cruel especially to people like me. I am five foot three and weigh 86 pounds and body mass index of 15.60. From the time I was in the 4th grade to now, I always felt different from everyone else because of my weight. I would always be made fun of and when I came into my teens, everyone would say that I was anorexic or bulimic. For me, living life so tiny is hell. I don't know what is wrong with me and why i can't gain any weight what so ever. I eat very healthy, after all my dad is a chef! But growing up, and seeing my pals become curvey hurt me really bad. I would tell myself what the hell is wrong with me? I am not a woman! Until I can afford to see a doctor, I will just be my same 18 year old skinny self
I"m 23 yeatrs old and 120lbs at 4'10" however I'm a size 2..sometimes a 4 (I have no idea where I keep the weight) however my doctor suggested I lose a little weight 2 years ago (based on my BMI) and I was slightly disturbed, so thanks for this!
Yea, I am 5'3 and weigh about 140 lbs. I have a fairly large chest and muscular thighs. I had a baby about a year ago and am actually skinnier than I was before I got pregnant. The first time I entered in my weight info to see if I was 'fat' or not, I was so embarrassed because I was classified as fat. I knew it really wasn't true. I have a women's body and a women's curves. I am not stick thin, but I don't mind anymore at all. Since I got into my twenties, I have learned to embrace a curvy, petite me. I am so glad that the BMI was wrong after all.
I never held much stock in the BMI tests. My doctor even once told me it was not meant to measure a person like me. I'm 5'10" and near 200lbs. I don’t live in the gym like some of my friends think but I do like to go and am fairly muscular yet the index puts me somewhere around 28 and obese. I wear 32” jeans comfortably and have a 44 or better chest yet the chart said I was obese. I discounted it myself a long time ago…
Well that may be true or whatever but you dont have to rub it in peoples faces i have a bmi of 17.5 and im skinny i have overactive thyroidism and can not help the way i am so yeah a lot of america is obese ok well you wont be dying from heart disease but there is a lot of other things that you can also not only that but you make it sound like oh just because were skinny were going to die well you know what the "not all the way obese" people may just as well die for all of gods sake you may all die in one big car accident so yes dont be all puting us down, when anything can happen.
I couldnt agree more the gross generalisation that if you are short you should weigh less is a total farse! I am only 5ft 6" and have a well toned, broad, well bult and mesamorphic body shape. The use of BMI should be seized as more and more people begin to feel depressed about their weight when they are actually in a healthy range! we have been brain washed by the medical profession in order to shame us into attaining a healthy lifestyle! The BMI does not, repeat does not measure body fat! It makes an inaccurate comparison between height and weight! dont use it!
Danny H GBR
MUSCLE DOES NOT WEIGH MORE THAN FAT... A pound of anything still weighs a pound regardless of what it is..... Now, the same VOLUME of muscle, say a cube 1" square compared to the same size cube of fat will weigh more....
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