Photo courtesy of pixabay public domain. Bmi is an estimate of body fat and a good gauge of your risk for diseases that can occur with more body fat. For adults preventing weight gain as you age is critical no matter your current body weight. The higher your bmi the higher your risk for certain diseases such as heart disease high blood pressure type 2 diabetes gallstones breathing problems and certain cancers. Body mass index bmi bmi is a useful measure of overweight and obesity. Bmi or body mass index is a standard measurement that health care professionals use to decide whether a patient is a healthy body weight.
The method a measure of body fat based on your weight in relation to your height can be traced back to the 1830s and despite its popularity is now understood to be a relatively crude measure of fitness. Maintaining a healthy body weight is important to staying healthy. Body mass index bmi provides an easy way to measure obesity but more doctors are questioning its accuracy and usefulness. Most people rely on the body mass index or bmi which is a measure of our weight in relation to our height. However this one size fits all approach may be flawed according to researchers from the university of california los angeles ucla. Bmi is supposed to estimate the amount of body fat a person carries.
Body mass index is the standard metric for determining who is normal weight overweight and obese but bmi is not an accurate measure of fat and doesnt explain the causes of poor health. Many experts have criticized this fairly limited measure of the health of our weight. More specifically to calculate your bmi you divide your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters. Often a visit to the doctors office starts with a weigh in. Increasingly medical research is showing that it isnt. But is a persons weight really a reliable indicator of overall health.
Measuring tape and other tools can be used to assess healthy weight better than the body mass index scale. It is calculated from your height and weight. Researchers found that almost one quarter of adults who were classified as normal weight or approximately 163 million people nationwide have indicators for one or more of the risks usually associated with being overweight such as elevated blood pressure or higher levels of triglycerides blood sugar and cholesterol. Height and weight are the two factors that determine a persons body mass index bmi a measure of body fat and general health. As people gain weight their risks for high blood pressure diabetes high blood cholesterol and heart disease all increase. Thankfully theres finally an alternative and it solves the biggest problem with the bmi.
A new study published monday confirms that body weight isnt an accurate indicator for certain health risks. Bmi compares an individuals height to their body weight.
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