Is BMI Accurate?
The BMI- the body mass index- is something that most people have come to know as a tool to measure health, wellness and a person’s body fat.
It’s a tool used at regular doctor’s visits, a tool referenced in health and wellness spaces, and a tool that research about health conditions has become based around.
It’s also a tool that has pathologized and stigmatized bodies for centuries, and a tool that has been weaponized to push people into maintaining their eating disorders or to spiral them deeper into eating disorder behaviors.
On top of that, over the years the BMI has become something that the general public has used to measure their worth, their character, their motivation, and their ability to care for themselves. This has made individuals question is BMI accurate.
We all know the categories of the BMI, but let’s reflect for a minute on the general meaning that has been attached to them:
→Unhealthy
→Just right 🙌🏼
→This isn’t good, you better get to work!
→OMG, what’s wrong with you?!
Here at Reclaim Therapy, we hear painful reflections like this every day. The people we support are consistently measuring their worth as humans in this world all because of this tool.
A tool that is BS.
In so many ways.
Let us tell you some of those ways.
Any tool that categorically pathologizes a subset of bodies, whether intentional or not, is morally and ethically wrong.
Full Stop.
The BMI is an over 200-year-old tool that was developed by a man who studied astronomy, statistics, and criminology.
Not a physician. Not even a person who studied the human body.
His name was Adolph Quetelet. He developed the BMI throughout his time studying and attempting to find the characteristics of the “average” man. In Quetelet’s eyes, these characteristics were representative of the “ideal” man.
To find the “ideal” man, he gathered data from France and Scotland consisting of the height and weight of white men.
Long story short, he averaged out this data and came up with a measurement tool called the Index. Which has shape-shifted over the years to be known around the world as the BMI.
It’s important to note that Quetelet himself was quite clear in his findings that the Index (now the BMI) was meant to measure populations, not individuals.
And, that it should not be a tool to measure body fat or health.
So in considering if BMI is accurate, we have to consider a few things…
We’re using a tool to measure “health” that was never intended to do so.
On top of that, its foundation is built on racism and sexism. Remember, Quetelet’s “ideal” man was based on the data from only white men. If the “ideal” person was a white man, where did that leave people of color and women?
→It’s important to note that much of Quetelet’s work became the groundwork in years to come for criminologists who believed that people of color were a separate species and were driven to commit crimes. Which then led to the justification of eugenics.
Starting to see the deep, deep roots of harm in this one tool?
Since the development of the BMI over 200 years ago, it has undergone multiple changes and new iterations- all based on measuring the “standard” body size of the population.
And, over the years, these measurements and studies continued to be based on wealthy, white men.
Eventually, the tool was picked up by life insurance companies to make a profit from these rich white guys.
Then, additional scientists started to play with it- Ancel Keys in particular.
He was interested in creating a diagnostic tool for doctors to measure body fat. Using Quetelet’s Index and doing research on primarily white men, Keys developed his method for measuring and correlating fatness and health.
Keys’ findings from his studies were problematic and subpar at best.
The BMI proved to be accurate in measuring body fatness and body composition only 50% of the time.
Still, medical institutions took the BMI calculation on as an accurate and accessible measurement of fatness, and because of Keys’ beliefs about bodies that were outside of the thin ideal (ie fatphobia), the medical institutions also took it on as a diagnostic measurement of a person’s health.
Since that time the BMI’s categories have shifted and changed multiple times. Most recently in 1998 when the NIH lowered the threshold for the categories of “overweight” and “obese”.
from the roots of which it was developed, we know that the BMI is not only bs, but it has contributed to the harm of countless people, particularly people of color.
Now, if knowing that the BMI’s foundation is one of overt racism and sexism isn’t enough, why else is the BMI bogus?
As discussed earlier, it’s not an accurate measurement tool.
The BMI doesn’t account for muscle and bone mass. Because of this, there is a great chance of misdiagnosing or basing disease risk based on the use of it.
In addition, because of how the BMI has been used and moralized over the years, weight discrimination and weight stigma is rampant in medical settings.
This increases the likelihood of people who fall into the “obese” categorization of the BMI being less likely to seek care and treatment out of fear of being talked down to and mistreated in doctor’s offices.
We hope this helps you begin to challenge the traditional medical paradigm and validity of using the BMI as a measurement of health and wellness.
The truth is that there is no picture or body that is representative of health.
And, any tool that encourages unhealthy behaviors around food and treatment of the body, is not one that can be trusted as helpful.
The Reclaim therapists are committed to providing weight-inclusive care to all people. If you need support, Reclaim therapy can support you.
We have an unwavering belief that all bodies are good bodies. That all bodies can be trusted. And, that all bodies are worthy of unbiased treatment.
We encourage you to sit with this. And, we hope that it helps you begin to divest, even a small amount, from a tool that has likely harmed you and the people that you love in some way.
You deserve more. Always. If you’re ready for support contact us today!
🧡,
We provide in-person and online therapy in Pennsylvania for people looking for trauma treatment, eating disorder treatment, and body image therapy.
Based on our Horsham, PA counseling practice, we provide online therapy to Pennsylvania residents who are looking for specialized treatment for trauma and PTSD, body image, EMDR, grief, binge eating, and other disordered eating concerns.