subject: There are Better Ways Than BMI to Measure Health [print this page] In the last decade as America has heard more and more about its obesity problem, the term "Body Mass Index" or B.M.I has become more common. But according to experts "the B.M.I. tables are excellent for identifying obesity and body fat in large populations, but they are far less reliable for determining fatness in individuals."
The BMI Paradox - Fat Tissue, Lean Tissue
Fat takes up about four times the space of muscle tissue, for example, so it is quite possible to look and feel fatter even if your height and weight remain the same. This is particularly common among women past 50 and men past 60, and the results are likely to show around the middle.
B.M.I. charts are commonly used in popular publications, exercise facilities and doctors' offices to determine if their patients/clients are underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese. Thus, a body mass of less than 18.5 is considered underweight; 18.5 to 24.9 is considered a healthy weight; 25 to 29.9 is overweight; 30 to 39.9 is obese; and 40 or more is morbidly obese.
What to Measure
A simple measure is body weight and then since abdominal fat is more hazardous, simply take a tape measure around the widest part of the abdomen and another at the hips and calculate the waist-to-hip ratio. For men it should be no higher than 0.90, and for women no higher than 0.83.
A more reliable, but still relatively simple, assessment of fatness would rely on a skin-fold score based on measurements taken with a caliper at several areas (in men, the thigh, midchest and abdomen, and in women, the thigh, triceps and area above the hip bone) that reflects the amount of fat under the skin.
Exercise and good nutrition is the best way to minimize an age-related rise in body fat; aerobic exercise is not enough. You must also do weight training to build and maintain muscle and follow a healthy eating pattern.
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