You should be aware of your bmi because of the health risks of being overweight that. A new study published monday confirms that body weight isnt an accurate indicator for certain health risks.
How Accurate Are Body Fat Scales Berkeley Wellness
Is body weight a reliable measurement of overall health. Knowing fat percentage also helps determine ideal weight as a goal for healthy weight loss. Height and weight are the two factors that determine a persons body mass index bmi a measure of body fat and general health. 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. Most people rely on the body mass index or bmi which is a measure of our weight in relation to our height. Often a visit to the doctors office starts with a weigh in. Body mass index bmi provides an easy way to measure obesity but more doctors are questioning its accuracy and usefulness.
Increasingly medical research is showing that it isnt. Many experts have criticized this fairly limited measure of the health of our weight. Essentially bmi is a simple mathematical formula based on height and weight that is used to measure fatness. The best benefit of losing excess fat is that by doing so your body returns to good health and many obesity associated health problems disappear. There are a multitude of ways to measure fat on your individual physical frame. Bmi is supposed to estimate the amount of body fat a person carries.
However this one size fits all approach may be flawed according to researchers from the university of california los angeles ucla. 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. Health is more strongly correlated with body fat percentage and distribution than with overall weight but getting an accurate measure of ones muscle to fat ratio is not especially simpleand. But is a persons weight really a reliable indicator of overall health.