#Bmi calculator healthy womens skin#

Anyone who has ever postponed a doctor’s appointment due to their weight, or purposely gone on a diet before a doctor’s appointment, is evidence of that. And using one for that purpose may actually cause harm.Ī person’s weight and BMI-and the stigma when those numbers aren’t “normal”-can stand in the way of people getting the care they need. The bottom line: no simple math formula or number on the scale can measure a person’s health. “A person’s health is influenced by a complex mix of health behaviors, genetic factors, lean mass, fitness, and environmental risks.” “The fact is, there is not a precise link between weight and health outcomes, nor is there evidence to support a fixed belief that higher weight always equals worsening health,” Russell says. “When you consider all the things that have changed in the last 100+ years, it’s puzzling to think that we’ve clung so tightly to BMI and, beyond that, the notion that there actually is a universal ideal body weight,” says Russell, who also serves as director of clinical and community-based programs at the Center for Community Health & Prevention.

#Bmi calculator healthy womens skin#

In the early 1900s, studies were done-primarily based on a white, male population-to try to determine the “ideal body weight.” Mixed results from tests of basic tools to measure body fat-like water displacement and skin calipers-led to the conclusion that the simple math of BMI should set the standard. His sample group of high-income, mostly white men aimed to estimate typical sizes of the total population for the purpose of distributing resources. It wasn’t even created by medical experts.ĭeveloped by a 19th century astronomer as a population census tool, the BMI formula was never intended as a measurement of health.īMI came from the work of a 19th century Belgian astronomer who was designing a population census in the Netherlands. Here’s a fact that may surprise you: When it was developed in the 19th century, the BMI formula was never intended as a measurement of health-especially the health of a diverse population. When you consider the odd, Victorian-era beginnings of the modern-day BMI calculator, you’ll understand why. “And using a weight-based tool like BMI to draw conclusions about a person’s health adds to the confusion.” “Despite assumptions we’ve come to accept as facts, the evidence linking weight and health is inconsistent,” Russell says.

Studies have also shown that BMI can mislabel a person’s health when compared to objective measures, like results from tests for cholesterol and blood-sugar levels. For example, new research has shown that some people in the “overweight” BMI category have a lower risk of death from heart-related causes than those with a “normal” BMI. Many of us cling to the belief that a thin body is a healthy body, but recent evidence suggests that’s not necessarily true. It’s complicated, says UR Medicine family medicine physician Holly Russell, MD, in her commentary, “ Is It Time to Say Goodbye to BMI?”