Is BMI the Best Way to Calculate Health Risks?

Health experts have been working to establish the correct way to measure a person's physical health. According to a recent study, body mass index (BMI) may not be the best way to calculate who possibly falls into the obesity range.

Studies show that those with a BMI over 30 are considered to be obese, a creation of Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet in 1832. Yet researchers from the University of Pennsylvania looked to monitor the condition that's often associated with obesity, including heart disease and type diabetes.

Study authors looked at various stereotypes often relating to unhealthy and more physically fit individuals.

Yet despite that many health officials look to BMI in order to calculate how healthy a person may be, BMI does not look at fat distribution or the amount of muscle the body carries. For instance, previous studies show that large amounts of belly fat are not measured when scaling BMI and muscle mass is also not taken into account.

Despite that BMI is not the most effective way to measure overall physical health, it's a relatively cheap and efficient method to measure body health. Other more complex options might include CT scans, MRI scans or DEXA scans that can become very expensive.

"There is an urgent need for accurate, practical, and affordable tools for assessing body composition, adipose hormones, myokines, cytokines and other biomarkers as predictive tools," the authors wrote, via the Los Angeles Times.

What do you think?

More information regarding these findings can be found in Science.