BMI (Body mass index) a reliable source to measure health?

Jan 9, 2017
2 min read

Have you ever had your doctor or health expert tell you your BMI is unhealthy or healthy?

Do you know what BMI is? Why is it use? Is it even a reliable source to measure your health?

Lets start with what is BMI? BMI which stands for "Body Mass Index", is a number that’s calculated by your height and weight. Health professionals have created specific BMI numbers to follow that say one is healthy for a specific height.

But there is a problem with this, due to that fact some people have more muscle then others. Muscle does not weigh more then fat. One pound of fat is one pound. One pound of muscle is one pound. The different is fat takes up more room and space. Where as one pound of muscle is more dense and takes up less room.

If you happen to be short and have lots of muscle your BMI normally is high and according to the scale of BMI your overweight and unhealthy. SAY WHAT?

BMI is not a reliable source to measure ones health because there is a lot of factors that need to be factored in.

So why do health care professionals use it? Why do they use it as a way to tell whether you are healthy or obese?

BMI has become a popular tool because it is easy to figure out.

Can quickly be calculated by Doctors during an office visit and use it as a way to tell their patients they need to lose weight.
Individuals can figure out BMI on their own and use it as a way to gauge their own progress.
There are other measures of health that are more accurate, but they’re also more costly and less accessible.

Your Doctor could send their patient for an MRI to see how much fat or muscle they have, but the cost would be enormous, and the process would be time consuming.

IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO MEASURE YOUR HEALTH?

Measuring yourself is much more accurate. You can trace inches lost or inches gained. Measure you bust (pecks), waist, largest part of the abs, hips, thighs, arms, calf's, and forearms is one technique. I use this technique with all my clients. Its more accurate then weight and BMI. There are online tools to help you with the calculations but my advice is to just record your measurements and then measure monthly. Tracking your measurements will give you a better measure of progress. Next time someone say "you lost weight" say yes I lost "INCHES" because in reality that is what is happening.

Track your health by eating more healthy food and exercising. You’ll feel the differences in your body in ways that no scale could ever measure!