The body mass index (BMI) gained popularity over the years as a simple tool for measuring your body's weight relative to your height. A simple formula that includes weight and height produces a number that is matched to a point on a BMI chart to show if you are underweight, healthy, overweight or obese. Although the formula was developed in the early 1800s, it has only been used by doctors since the 1970s.
Invention
The BMI was originally devised as part of the Quetlet Index, a venture of Adolphe Quetelet to measure the average man in a wide range of ways, one of them being weight proportionate to height. This early form of the BMI did not receive its current name until the 1970s, when medical researchers began looking for new ways to calculate medical risks based on weight and height.
Research and Acceptance
Before the 1970s, insurance companies used rudimentary weight-for-height tables that broke the size of the body into three simple categories: small, medium and large frames. A study performed at the University of Minnesota sought to measure the height, weight and body fat of more than 7,000 men in an effort to develop new methods of assessing this risk. It was through this research that the Quetelet Index, which had been studied and proven to be fairly effective, was given a more modern name. According to Slate, the popularity of the BMI continued to increase until 1985, when the National Institutes of Health named the formula its primary diagnostic tool for obesity.
Adjustments
In 1998, different standards were devised for women when it was realized that healthy women carry more fat on their bodies than men. This raised the thresholds at which women would be classified as overweight or obese.
Criticisms
Many critics of the BMI have complained that the formula used is too simple and ignores a large number of variables that can influence both your BMI score and your overall health. For example, the BMI does not distinguish between lean and fatty mass. As a result, many heavily-muscled individuals, particularly athletes, may be characterized as obese because of their weight. There is also no consideration for how body fat is distributed, which greatly influences health risks. Because the BMI is so accessible and easy to calculate, it can be misinterpreted by individuals who may incorrectly classify themselves as overweight or obese based on their score.
Member Comments