Science

13001 readers

14 users here now

Studies, research findings, and interesting tidbits from the ever-expanding scientific world.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:

Space

Be sure to also check out these other Fediverse science communities:

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

alyaza@beehaw.org

Gaywallet@beehaw.org

remington@beehaw.org

Why BMI is flawed — and how to redefine obesity (www.nature.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Bebo@literature.cafe to c/science@beehaw.org

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The main diagnostic test for obesity — the body mass index — accounts for only height and weight, leaving out a slew of factors that influence body fat and health.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago

I'm obese, and I know it. My BMI has been getting better and better as I've been losing weight, but I've been losing muscle at about the same or faster rate, which is causing a lot of problems. My waist-to-height ratio is also hilarious, because as I've been losing weight, most of the fat is concentrated below the waistline, so the ratio is great, but completely useless. I've been more fit at a higher BMI and weight.

Still, recently I got told an even worse formula: "height in cm - 100 - 10%", which would put my "optimum weight" at the top of the "healthy BMI" range... and would make someone 100cm tall into a ghost 🧐