Are BMI tests really useful?

Last Updated on March 28, 2024 by coach@lashapebody.com

Weight Loss

Are BMI tests really useful?

In recent years questions were raised weather BMI tests are really useful, as in many cases they have proved to be unreliable.

Let’s discover if BMI tests are accurate and why physicians use them and consider BMI important.

What is BMI and how it works?

BMI or the Body Mass Index (developed back in 1985) is a screening tool to indicate a person’s weight category.

It combines a person’s weight with their height. what can give an idea about whether a person has the correct weight for their height.

According to the internationally-accepted classification there are several BMI categories:

below 18.5 is considered as underweight
18.5 to 25 is considered as healthy weight
25 to 30 is considered as overweight
30 to 35 is considered as obesity level 1
35 to 40 is considered as obesity level 2
40 and above is considered as obesity level 3

Because BMI calculation requires only height and weight, it’s an easy and frequently used tool.

Are BMI and body fat the same?

Although the correlation between the BMI and body fatness is fairly strong, it doesn’t determine how much body fat one has.

Two people having the same BMI, their level of body fatness can still differ

In general,

At the same BMI, women tend to have more body fat than men
At the same BMI, the amount of body fat may be higher or lower depending on the racial/ethnic group
At the same BMI, older people, on average, tend to have more body fat than younger adults
At the same BMI, athletes have less body fat than do non-athletes

As you can see BMI is not a perfect measure, but it can be used as an indicator.

Some argue that BMI can be misleading and so it should be discarded in favor of measures such as waist circumference.
However, this is unlikely to happen given that BMI has a long history of use-and most important, can help predicting disease risk — higher the BMI number more health risks can be present.

“Can you use BMI to lose weight?”

Yes, you absolutely can!

BMI is my favorite tool to estimate protein target intake. When my clients are hitting their personalized protein needs, they are less hungry, have less cravings and lose weight easier.

Can you use BMI for tracking your weight loss?

Of course you can! Closer you get to BMI of 25, closer you get to your ideal weight.

Besides monitoring your BMI I recommend regularly weigh yourself (once a week, same day, in the morning first thing after using the toilet) and once a month do body analysis to determine the percentage of your body fat.

It is also smart to keep track of your measurements: neck, chest, waist, hips, arms, thighs and calves.

Weight loss means inch loss as well.

To Your Wellness ❤️

Anna T.

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