BMI or body mass index is a measurement used to assess a person's height and weight. Although it can be troublesome with certain populations, BMI is quite accurate at assessing a person's body composition when compared to other more traditional methods like hydrostatic weighing and skin fold testing.
Cheap
Large organizations, physicians, dietitians, personal trainers and other health care personnel use BMI because it is a cheap option to assess a person's height and weight. The only equipment needed is a scale and a way to measure height, compared to the large, full body X-ray used in Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA), or the pool and chair needed for hydrostatic weighing, which can cost thousands of dollars and requires a specialist to operate the equipment.
Noninvasive
Because BMI is a simple measurement of height and weight, it is completely noninvasive. Skin fold tests require a practitioner to pinch a subject's body fat in up to 13 places. This can be rather embarrassing for some, regardless of whether or not they are overweight.
Time Effective
Calculating BMI is time effective. Particularly considering the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) charts obesity rates in America, if they were to attempt to get accurate figures using another method, it would take years to accomplish and ultimately would be inaccurate as the data would be out of date by the time of publication.
Anybody Can Do It
Anybody can calculate BMI. All it takes is an accurate height and weight measurement. The equation is 703 *(weight in pounds/ height in inches squared).
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