Calculating body mass index, or BMI, is affordable and easy, making it a standard choice for many settings in the health and fitness industry. BMI is a body composition assessment that uses a person's height and weight to help define health risks. BMI is used in many different settings to help professionals assess health status in the young and old. BMI is not always the most accurate body composition tool, but it does give health professionals needed information that can then help to assess more serious health-related issues.
Pediatrics
BMI is used in the pediatric specialty to help doctors categorize potential weight problems in young children. About a third of U.S. children and adolescents are obese. BMI is a simple screening test that is non-invasive and affordable. It allows health professionals to define a child's BMI category and help the child and family begin lifestyle changes early-on in hopes to change health trends.
Health Risk Assessments
A health risk assessment or HRA is an initial screening questionnaire that categorizes an adult's health status in different sections such as diet, exercise, body composition and disease. BMI is used in HRAs because it is a simple calculation that will give relative information about a person's habits. This, in turn, will help professionals pto erform more specific tests and assessments if needed. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has found that high BMI numbers lead to greater risks associated with hypertension, high cholesterol and heart disease. If a health professional can use a simple and affordable calculation initially, it can help to save money, time and efforts later on when testing for such health issues.
Body Fat Indicator for Obese Populations
Body fat percentages are another important assessment used in the health and fitness industry. In many health and fitness settings, skin calipers are used to calculate body fat. Calipers are limited to measurements of 80 mm or smaller and many obese subjects have measurements much greater then 80 mm. In these situations, BMI can be used to help find relative body fat percentages that will then help professionals predict certain health risks. This information can then be used to build healthy lifestyle treatments for patients.
Self Health Check
BMI calculators and charts can be found all over the internet and the actual equation is also easy to find and use. Calculating and using BMI can be a quick way for one to monitor and check progress. The only equipment that is required is a good accurate scale and a calculator. BMI may not be the most accurate way for acquiring health status information but it is easy to use, even for an individual at home. The first important step to lifestyle changes is self-acknowledgment. If an individual can acknowledge the need for change as she monitors her BMI, she is much more likely to succeed and seek the help that is needed to do so.
References
- "ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription"; The American College of Sports Medicine; 2006
- Pediatrics: The Use of BMI in the Clinical Setting
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