What is one of the limitations of using BMI body mass index as a measure of personal health?

Although BMI can be used for most men and women, it does have some limits: It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build. It may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle.

What are 3 limitations of BMI?

Factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, and muscle mass can influence the relationship between BMI and body fat. Also, BMI does not distinguish between excess fat, muscle, or bone mass, nor does it provide any indication of the distribution of fat among individuals.

Why BMI is not a good measure?

BMI is not an accurate predictor of health because it does not account for body fat percentage or body fat distribution. In addition, BMI cannot accurately predict the health of different demographics and races because it was created with data from only white Europeans.

What are potential problems with using BMI to identify obesity?

According to the National Institutes of Health, “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.” That’s why doctors are inclined to use this measure of overweight and obesity with patients.

What are the weaknesses of BMI?

The Drawbacks of Using BMI

• How Much Muscle You Have: The more you have the higher your BMI will be, even though you may be healthy.
• Frame Size: A person with a big frame will have a higher BMI, although he or she may still be healthy.
• Gender: At the same BMI, women will usually have more body fat than men.

What is considered a good BMI score?

BMI ranges For most adults, an ideal BMI is in the 18.5 to 24.9 range. For children and young people aged 2 to 18, the BMI calculation takes into account age and gender as well as height and weight. If your BMI is: below 18.5 – you’re in the underweight range.

Do doctors still use BMI?

Researchers in population studies, doctors, personal trainers, and others use the BMI in their work. However, BMI has some important flaws. For example, it does not measure overall fat or lean tissue (muscle) content. BMI is derived from a simple math formula.

What is a healthy waist size?

For your best health, your waist should be less than 40 inches around for men, and less than 35 inches for women. If it’s larger than that, you may want to talk with your doctor about what your next steps are, including losing weight. You can’t spot-reduce your waist, or any other part of your body.

Is WHR a better indicator than BMI?

WHR is an easy, inexpensive, and accurate way to see how much body fat you have. It can also help predict your risk for heart disease and diabetes. A few studies suggest that WHR is even more accurate than BMI for predicting the risks of cardiovascular disease and premature death.

Does BMI count muscle?

BMI (body mass index), which is based on the height and weight of a person, is an inaccurate measure of body fat content and does not take into account muscle mass, bone density, overall body composition, and racial and sex differences, say researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

What is a better measure than BMI?

Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) WHtR is more accurate than BMI because it takes central fat into consideration. Central fat is important because it collects around the organs in your midsection and has been closely linked to conditions such as heart disease.

Is BMI a good health indicator?

BMI is a useful indicator of health at the population level. However, the distribution of fat on your body is more important that the amount, when assessing your disease risk. For this reason, your waist circumference is thought to be a better predictor of health risk than your BMI.

Does age affect BMI?

For adults ages 20 years and older, BMI incorporates weight and height, but it does not take age or sex into account. A woman tends to have more body fat than a man with the same BMI. For these reasons, BMI may not give the detail necessary to determine whether a person’s weight is healthful.

Why do doctors rely on BMI?

The body mass index (BMI) has long been used as a way to judge one’s health. It’s a simple measure — your weight in kilograms divided by your height in meters squared — that can supposedly tell you how likely you are to develop heart disease, diabetes, and even early death.