Wow… I just read an article I found on http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/weight-loss/bmi4.htm
and really liked what I saw. It went into detail about the history of BMI and
also answered some of the questions I had like how could who could a fit person
be considered obese. It went into depth starting with child and also gave
pictures of the BMI charts. I found that BMI is (weight / height x2). I guess
now I think how could we use and judge children with BMI’s? If they know that
BMI could be different with different race why isn’t there a different BMI?
So after my question, why aren’t there different BMI‘s for different
race? I can across this site http://www.halls.md/bmi/race.htm
and saw they gave a chart of overweight BMI and how it varied from Ethiopian overweight
was 20.1 to compared to Polynesian was 29.5 was considered overweight. So what
if your mixed like myself? I am Hispanic, Indian and White or like my son who
is African American, Hispanic, White and Indian. How accurate is it then?
Since the site above was not the best with a whole lot of information
I kept looking. I saw this which I thought was great. This site http://www.webmd.com/diet/calc-bmi-plus
not only showed your BMI but also showed your Body Shape. It gave more
information than the site I mentioned before. I still have those questions. Who
is this intended for? I want to find a BMI that shows one who is overweight or
obese that has a patient that has all these health factors. My grandma on my
mom’s side it white she is at least 60-100 overweight and is 74 years old and
one of the healthiest women I know. She is never sick is very active in her community
and passes her physicals fine.
I am curious about the credibility of the Halls site you mention (your 2nd source). You yourself admit it "was not the best." How could you tell?
ReplyDeleteThe idea of differentiating BMI based on race or ethnicity seems potentially dangerous. On the one hand, maybe a single formula and number cannot adequately predict the health of everyone on the planet, given our many differences. On the other hand, any time race is used in this way, the possibility of racism arises. Can people really be classified into single races and compared to one another? And why would a healthy BMI be different for people from different areas of the globe? What is the scientific or genetic rationale for this? I would have to understand those elements more, before I would be ready to accept claims about different BMI figures for different races/ethnicities.
Also, I am still curious WHEN and WHERE the BMI arose: Did one particular person invent it? If so, for what "population" (given the ideas above about races)? How long has the BMI been in use? How many doctors still endorse it as an accurate measure?
I am curious about the BMI chart. Even though it has the weight and the height does it take into account the mass in muscle that every one has? Is the BMI chart really that accurate? It seems that in the things that I have read and also the BMI chart on myself it doesn't seem as accurate as it should be. There may be something more that you should look at with the obesity. With your comment on that the different races should have different BMI, why is it that this should be? What is so different between the races that they need different BMI charts.
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