BMI - Stands for Bullshit Must Ignore
THE BMI SCALE IS LITERAL BULLSHIT.
I've thought long and hard about this to make sure that I can confidently proclaim such a bold statement.
I can. It's bullshit.
Using it to determine the health of an individual is greatly flawed because it's based on the assumption that all bodies at the same height will not only look exactly the same but that there is a weight range at which they are all healthy.
Which is false, we are all individually unique with different set point weights.
It completely fails to acknowledge the very REALITY of body diversity.
HELLO- humans are not Vitamix blenders. Two people who are the same height can have wildly different body shapes/sizes.
Here are some important things to consider about the BMI Scale:
It fails to acknowledge the relationship between bone density/muscle mass/fat cell composition rendering it physiologically wrong.
People within the "overweight" category are actually the healthiest group (shocker!)
There are millions of people who fall within the "Obese" category who are metabolically healthy (my boyfriend and best friend included so don't @ me)
Someone can be within the "normal" range and still have any disease associated with fatness including diabetes & heart disease & cancer. Duh.
It completely leaves MENTAL HEALTH out of the equation.
On a personal level, when I was struggling with my eating disorder, I was told by my GP at the time that it couldn't be that serious (I wanted a diagnosis to get treatment) because I was so "healthy" (referring to my weight and the way I looked) yet I was restricting, bingeing, purging and contemplating suicide.... how is any of that healthy?
The BMI pretty much misses the mark on every account.
It's a gross generalization and should not be used in medicine or to determine someones health care premiums which massively contributes to fatphobia and weight stigma.
Another reason this is so harmful is that it perpetuates the myth that there is a weight at which we SHOULD be, which is often different than where we are at, and a lot of us develop restrictive & rebellious eating behaviors trying to fit into the predetermined mold created by a society that thinks we should all be thin.
IT'S BEYOND BULLSHIT. It's unethical.
The BMI was invented over 200 yrs ago as a quick observational tool to compare body size across populations. You guys... it is essentially a 200 yr old LIFE HACK! Not exactly sure we should use life hacks in health care... do you?
xo C