BMI stands for body mass index. Doctors' offices, scales, and even personal trainers have relied on this measurement which is determined by the following formula; Take your weight (in kilograms), and divide by the square of your height (in meters). As described in a recent article in the NY Times, "The result, which slots you into one of four main categories, is meant to describe your body in a single word or two: underweight (B.M.I. less than 18.5), normal weight (18.5 to 24.9), overweight (25.0 to 29.9) or obese (30 or greater)." Since only a quarter of us in the USA are in the normal category, how useful is this measurement to us in assessing a healthy weight? Since the measurement is a one size fits all assessment of us that ignores our metabolic efficiency as well as our reason for our weight which can be fat, muscle mass, a combination of both. BMI may actually be not only an inaccurate assessment of our overall metabolic health but may also be causing problems for those who lost weight and who are metabolically healthier, but not according to the BMI categories. In other words, many healthy people likely may never reach the unrealistic goals for themselves in BMI categories that are discussed in doctors' offices and by other professionals. The NY Times recently did an investigative report on BMI and questioned whether this outdated measure of health that was invented in the 1830s has any value whatsoever. Check out the article below Is B.M.I. a Scam? It can be a helpful health measure for large groups of people, but it won’t tell you much about yourself. By Alice Callahan May 18, 2021 There are few single measures in health care that seem to carry as much weight as body mass index, or B.M.I. We encounter it not just at doctor’s offices, but with online calculators and smart scales, at gyms and even when determining eligibility for the Covid vaccine. Its formula is simple: Take your weight (in kilograms), and divide by the square of your height (in meters). The result, which slots you into one of four main categories, is meant to describe your body in a single word or two: underweight (B.M.I. less than 18.5), normal weight (18.5 to 24.9), overweight (25.0 to 29.9) or obese (30 or greater). Many feel judged by these categories, given that only about a quarter of adults in the United States can call themselves “normal” on the B.M.I. scale. But after talking with an epidemiologist, two obesity medicine physicians, a health psychologist and a sociologist, none claimed that B.M.I. was a very useful measure of a person’s health. And, in fact, some said they would indeed call it a scam. Read more