New Study Finds Body Mass Index (BMI) a Poor Indicator of Health Risk
A new study has found that being overweight, as defined by the body mass index (BMI), is not linked to an increase in death when considered separately from other health issues. The BMI scale measures a person’s body fat based on their height and weight. The study, conducted by researchers at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, analyzed data from over 554,000 non-pregnant Americans over the age of 20. They compared BMI levels with deaths that occurred over the next 20 years.
The study found that there was no significant increase in mortality for adults older than age 65, regardless of whether they fell into the normal weight, overweight, or obese categories. However, for people between the ages of 20 and 65, the study found that there was no significant increase in the risk of death for those with a BMI between 24.5 and 27.5, the lower end of the overweight scale.
While the study challenges the notion that BMI is a reliable indicator of mortality risk, experts caution that the study has limitations and does not conclusively prove that BMI is irrelevant. The study did not take into account other factors such as the development of chronic diseases like diabetes or heart disease, and it did not examine the cause of death in the study participants. Additionally, the study relied on self-reported data from the National Health Interview Survey, which may not always be accurate.
Experts also argue that while BMI may not be a strong predictor of mortality risk, it is still associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. They suggest that BMI should be supplemented with other measures of health risk, such as waist circumference and weight trajectory.
Overall, the study highlights the limitations of using BMI as the sole indicator of a person’s health risk and emphasizes the need for a more comprehensive approach to assessing health.