I’m a dietitian but I don’t remember the formula to calculate body mass index (BMI) because frankly it’s not that important (I also have a computer which does it for me).
But don’t I need to know my BMI to know if I’m underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese? Okay, sure now you have a classification you are over or under an arbitrary “normal” weight, but what does that really tell you?
How healthy you are?
Nope.
BMI does not tell you how healthy you are. It does not measure how many fruits and vegetables you eat, how much activity you get, how many close relationships you have, what chronic diseases you’ve developed, whether or not you’ve had a traumatic injury… It only tells you how much mass is on your body related to how tall you are. That’s not a measure of health.
Do not attach too much weight to that one number. It does not measure your health.
BMI Does Not Measure Health
I was just talking about this on Monday! My husband and I have stopped using the BMI because it makes no sense to us. Everyone has a unique body type
Absolutely! And there are so many things it doesn’t account for! So many better markers of health
I agree! I was just thinking today how my health marker should be how I feel overall.