BMI? IGNORE IT!

I have a friend named Tony; he is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs about 112 kg. His BMI is approximately 33, so according to this indicator, tony is obese and needs to lose about 35 kg to be safe.

There is only one problem, Tony is a muscular with very little body fat, and is as fit as is humanly possible. I have a massive grouse against BMI being used as a measure of fitness or health, due to people like Tony who disprove it, but I am getting  ahead of myself so let me start at the beginning.

BMI (Body Mass Index) is used by many Doctors, nutritionists, dietitians etc as a measure of heath. Its value is derived by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in Meters squared:

WEIGHT(KG)/HEIGHT(METER SQUARED)

I do not believe in the effectiveness of BMI as it does not take into account body frame, you could be muscular and large framed and share the same BMI as a smaller individual with more body fat.

                                                  Different frame same BMI!

As a guide to fitness I find it very misleading because it is not a smart guide, it cannot differentiate between Bone, Fat and Muscle. All your weight is lumped together regardless of your body type, every day I meet guys in the gym that would be termed obese due to their BMI but in actual fact are in peak physical condition, hence my total dislike of BMI, If I could become president of the world, I would ban the term forever! There are methods you could apply to determine your condition i.e. underweight, optimal weight or obese. They include;

• your waist circumference (because abdominal fat is a predictor of risk for obesity-related diseases).
• Skin fold measurement
• Your mirror, this is my personal favourite, just look at the mirror it never lies, it calls it as it sees it!

So next time someone tells you about BMI, tell them to shove it! It is misleading. Just look at your mirror and make the necessary adjustments to your lifestyle.

Do have a wonderful day.