About this episode
In this episode we talk about the problem with the BMI scale as a measure of health. The BMI was invented over 200 years ago by a Belgian MATHEMATICIAN-that's right, knew nothing about the human body, was not a DOCTOR or health professional- named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet. He came up with BMI to help the government allocate resources to the population, and had nothing to do with how “healthy” someone was. Quetelet even requested that the formula was not to be used to measure fatness, or someone’s health status. What is BMI? The body mass index is an equation that's talked about frequently in our medical system, in health classes, and in news articles that measures weight in relation to height. BMI uses height and weight to classify people into the categories “underweight”, “healthy”, “overweight”, “obese”, “morbidly obese”- all of which have a line that’s arbitrarily drawn to separate the categories without any other factors taken into consideration. No muscle mass, no health markers, no lifestyle factors, literally just height and weight. Ironically, although the CDC uses BMI as a measure of health, the CDC’s own data show that BMI measures are inaccurate at determining … well, just about anything really. You can be the exact same height and BMI as someone else and have very different bodies. Oh, and not to mention that very same data shows that nearly half of the people classified as “obese” by the BMI standard were perfectly metabolically healthy, actually. That’s because the human body is an organism not a fucking math equation. A better measurement of health and wellness - Waist-to-hip ratio The waist-to-hip ratio is not only an excellent way of calculating how much excess weight you are carrying, it can also be used to indicate susceptibility to a number of health issues, including high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. You can read more about waist-to-hip ratio here. We also have a waist-to-hip calculator here. How do you calculate your waist-to-hip ratio? Using a tape measure, take a reading from your natural waistline and the widest part of your hips. Now divide the circumference of your waist by your hip circumference measurement. Once you've done that, compare to our results chart below. Waist-to-hip ratio results chart The figures in the waist-to-hip chart below are based upon the standards set by the German Society for Sports Medicine and Prevention (DGSP). Men / Women < 0.90 / < 0.80 normal weight 0.90 to 0.99 / 0.80 to 0.84 over-weight 1.0+ / 0.85+ obesity Note that the World Health Organisation deems that abdominal obesity is represented by a waist–hip ratio above 0.90 for males and above 0.85 for females. *** CONNECT 🚀 Work With Us - Healthy Gut & Happy Hormones Program 🖇️ Liz on Instagram / Facebook / TikTok 🔗 Becca on Instagram / Facebook / TikTok 🇺🇸 Join FITMOM™️society ▶️ Watch the podcast on YouTube *** SAY THANKS 💟 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts ✳️ Leave a rating on Spotify *** Produced by 📣 brandhard