Obesity and the body mass index

I wrote recently about my brush with the body mass index (BMI) tables at my gym. I couldn’t help myself seeing where I my body mass was on the chart and was horrified to find that I was on the over weight scale, even with my levels of exercise.

Well it seems that my thoughts that the BMI is a poor way of determing obesity have been vindicated by recent research which found that many patients classed as “overweight” by the BMI test actually outlived those judged to be of normal weight.

This is to be expected, of course, as many people who are active acquire more muscle mass and as muscle is heavier than fat, often have a BMI that is in the over-weight category. These people are probably also fitter and more healthy, as they take ownership for their well-being, and therefore tend to live longer.

This is good news for those of us who do exercises such as swimming which tends to increase upper body muscles. We can forget BMI testing now, however we should be aware of another recommended test - the waist to hip ratio which compares the circumference of your waist to the circumference of your hips.

If your waist is much bigger than your hips then this could be due to abdominal fat deposits. We know that the so called “apple shaped” body shape, which is due to abdominal fat, presents greater chance of heart disease and diabetes, so this is a more reliable indicator of obesity and associated health risks.

So the next time I see a BMI chart lying around, i’ll feel justified in ignoring it, though I’d better go and find a tape measure, just in case!

Add comment August 18th, 2006 Written By: chris