BMI (BMI) is a number that you may have heard. These days, it is used by doctors, health institutions and insurance companies everywhere to classify people as underweight, natural weight, weight gain or obesity. Have you wondered where this body mass index number came, and if that is the best way to measure the body size of health? Let’s dig in the history of the body mass index and other measurements such as the waist circumference.
Where did the body mass index come from?
The body mass index was created in the early nineteenth century by a Belgian mathematician called Adolphe Quetelet. He was not a doctor or a healthy expert – he was statistically. Quetelet format (weight in kilogram divided into a square meter) to study general trends in human growth. The body mass index was not intended to judge individual health. Therefore, the index began as a statistical tool.
How I encouraged Ancel’s body mass index
The QUETEET index was not used, as it was called, until people began conducting large population studies. In his work in studying the seven countries in the 1970s, Ancel Keys was studying in various countries to see if he could determine the nutritional causes of heart disease. He wanted one index that can be used to compare body sizes across various population groups. To study trends in obesity at the population level, KEYS found that the body mass index worked well. It truly gave obesity at the population level. But even KEYS itself warned that the BMI was not an ideal measure of individual health.
When the body mass index became the standard for obesity
Despite its restrictions as a tool for measuring individual obesity, the body mass index has gained popularity among researchers as a tool for weight gain and obesity in their population studies. In 1995, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified obesity in terms of body mass index instead of measurements or other tools. Perhaps getting length and weight of the body is easier than the waist circumference? Perhaps there was a lower error in the body mass index methodology? Perhaps it seemed to be a better and more complete measurement than the waist circumference because it explains your body weight at any height. If you are very heavy for your height, well, you are more likely to have weight gain or obesity. So, who said if your body mass index is over 25 years old, you are overweight and if your body mass index is more than 30 years, you are a debt. There are other categories of obesity as well. It was clear from the search to that point that obesity at the population level was related to negative health results. It is clear that we are in the midst of obesity epidemic, so this is not an argument for just accepting that some people are big. This idea is wrong and dangerous
Although the body mass index was a simple way to track obesity at the population level all over the world, it is not in the individual level, it does not take into account the mass of muscles, bone density, or fat distribution. Therefore, there are some people classified as being overweight by the body mass index who are already healthy.
How the body mass index has become a personal health scale
Over time, since the BMI was used on a wider scale and supported by medical research data and health results, the BMI from not only the population study tool has turned into use for individual health assessments. Doctors began to use it to advise patients about weight, and insurance companies used it to develop insurance premiums. This transformation was a problem because the BMI did not differentiate between fats and muscles, and does not think about the place where fat is stored. The appropriate athlete with muscle building can have more than 25 years and is classified as being overweight, even if they have a little body fat.
More importantly, the BMI does not tell us anything about it where The fat is stored. This is very important because belly fat (visceral fat) is much more dangerous than the fat stored in the thighs or hips.
CDC recommends that individuals use a body mass index as a fast examination tool, but also to include medical history, laboratory results, physical examination, and health behaviors to assess individual health as an individual.
Is the waist circumference a better alternative?
Instead of relying only on the body mass index, there is a simpler measure of health and obesity waistline. Obesity research also shows that excessive belly fat is closely related to heart disease, diabetes and other metabolic issues.
In studying nurses health, women who have a “natural” body mass index (between 18.5 and 25.0 kg/m2Those who had a waist circumference greater than 88 cm were more likely to have a fatal stroke or a heart attack compared to women with a normal body mass index and a smaller waist. So, the fat around the medium is more dangerous to your health, and the body mass index does not represent where you are.
Below the waist circumference parts for a healthy weight:
- men: Less than 37 inches (94 cm)
- slim: Less than 31.5 inches (80 cm)
Some organizations have more leniency guidelines, such as 40 inches (102 cm) for men and 35 inches (89 cm) for women. These numbers are very high due to the risk of developing diabetes, according to health professional follow -up study data. Therefore, 37 inches for men (35 inches if you are of South Asia) and 31.5 inches for women is the healthy category. If your waist is larger than these pieces, the evidence indicates that you have a higher risk of health problems, regardless of the body mass index.
There is another way to use your waist circumference, which is compared to your length, in the waist ratio to the height. The healthy waist ratio is less than 0.5. Therefore, if your waist is more than half of your height, you are very thick around the middle.
How to properly measure your waist
- Determine the Measurement Point Site: Look for the middle point between the bottom of the last rib and the top of the thigh bones.
- Put the measurement bar: Wrap a measurement tape around this medium point, making sure it is parallel to the ground.
- Ensuring the appropriate suitability: The tape should be warm but not pressure on the skin.
- Measurement after exhalation: Take the measurement after breathing naturally.
Ready -made meals
The body mass index was not supposed to use personal health assessments. It is very useful as a tool for studying the population, but the application of statistical tools to individuals only works for those who suffer from very typical and classifies some individuals in a wrong way. The real issue is not the weight alone – it is Distribution of fatsEspecially abdominal fat.
If you want to know if you are overweight, you can skip the BMI. Instead, get a tape measure and check the size of the waist. It is a much better indication of the risk of chronic diseases and a more useful tool for personal health management.