Forget Weight. BMI, Another Sacred Cow, is Going the Way of the Dinosaur. These Don't Measure Your Risk. See What Does
#49 2023 The Rowen Report
Dear Subscriber,
BMI stands for “body mass index”. For decades it has stood as a measure of obesity risk but now this sacred cow is seen to be flawed, even though still entrenched. There is infrastructure and a thriving business based on it. It does not measure obesity.[i]
BMI is calculated by your weight in kg divided by the square of your heights in meters. You are considered weight “healthy” if your BMI calls between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m2. Overweight is 25-29.9 and obesity is considered 30 or more. One problem is that certain ethnic groups have been shown to have higher risks of comorbidities at lower BMI. BMI was chosen for convenience as all you need is height and weight for the calculation.
However, BMI is more of a proxy for adiposity. It is not a direct measure. One flaw is that it cannot adjust for weight present due to muscle. Muscle is far more “weighty” than fat, yet the muscular person might show up with a high BMI that is not at all reflective of his/her risk. So, BMI might be useful for assessing population risk, but not individual risk, which is what is relevant to you.
There is a better number for your consideration based on your waiste to height ratio or WHtR. A person is at higher risk of developing central obesity-related illness if they have a WHtR of over 50% To calculate WHtR, measure your waist circumference and height in inches. Then, divide the waist circumference by height, and multiply by 100 to get percent.
The issue with weight is not gross weight but visceral fat (fat stores in your abdominal cavity). Visceral fat serves as a proinflammatory festering organ. If you are heavy without visceral fat, you likely need not be concerned.
For example, we can leave my weight of say 154 lbs our of the picture. My height is 69 inches and my waist has been 32 since junior high school. 32/69 = 0.46. For me, a good number:
UK government guidelines have suggested values for WHtR (defining the degree of central adiposity) as follows:
· healthy central adiposity: waist-to-height ratio 0.4 to 0.49, indicating no increased health risks
· increased central adiposity: waist-to-height ratio 0.5 to 0.59, indicating increased health risks
· high central adiposity: waist-to-height ratio 0.6 or more, indicating further increased health risks.
I agree with the new push to abandon the BMI to assess your obesity risk. The measurement for WHtR is simple, easy, and incorporates the real risk – abdominal size which directly reflets visceral fat.
So, stop getting on the scale. (That should make you happy (smile)). Your weight appears not to be significantly relevant to your risk. You are not going to change your height (except perhaps loss some naturally with age). But your waist size is at your behavioral command.
To Your Excellent Health,
Robert Jay Rowen, MD
PS I want to thank you all for your support and sharing to help this page grow, and especially the Premium subscribers. I will be soon posting part 2 on uncoupling mitochondria in the Premium section as an easier means of weight loss.
I read and appreciate all comments all of you make on these posts.
[i] Family Practice News Vol 53, No 6, June 2023
Have they studied how comedy affects your risks from visceral fat--for example, belly laughing?
I like what Mark Twain supposedly wrote: "Beware of reading health books. You could die of a misprint." I like to tell people that a new study found that new studies can be dangerous to your health.