2023-06-17 03:34:33
Many people and even doctors rely on BMI to determine whether they are considered “obese” or have weight-related health problems, but the American Medical Association (AMA) said it was an “imperfect indicator” of body fat status.
The association and the Council on Science and Public Health explained in a report Common that the current BMI classification system is “misleading” and does not reflect the effects of fat mass on mortality rates.
The report indicated that this indicator, with its current system, has caused “historic” harm, because it does not give a complete measure of the state of body fat, as it does not take into account “lifestyle, gender, races, and other influences that may be related to deaths in the family … not to mention that it does not taking into account the expected accumulation of fat with age,” especially since the current indicators are based on data collected from previous generations of white US residents, and do not take into account other ancestry.
He added that using this index to “diagnose and treat individuals with eating disorders is problematic, because it does not capture the full range of abnormal eating disorders.”
What is BMI?
BMI is usually measured by the formula “body weight in kilograms divided by height in meters multiplied by itself”.
According to the site Mayo ClinicDoctors identified four indicators of BMI: less than 18.5 is thin, 18.5 to 24.9 is normal, 25 to 29.9 is overweight, and 30 or more is obese.
And she says Global Health Organization Anyone with a body mass index of 25 or more is considered to be in the category of “extremely obese”, and whoever has a mass of more than 30 is considered to be in the category of “overweight”, and those who are overweight and obese have a high chance of developing heart disease and diabetes, which are considered major contributors to “mortality”. early”.
Obesity
The organization states that obesity is one of the most prevalent disorders among adults in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, where the prevalence of overweight and obesity ranges from 74 to 86 percent in women, and from 69 to 77 percent in men.
She mentioned that some countries in the region have obesity as a growing problem, especially in: Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The Mayo Clinic points out that obesity is not only a source of concern due to the excessive amount of fat in the body, but also because of the health problems that accompany it, including some types of cancer.
Obesity results from several factors, including what is: genetics, lifestyle and diet, or due to the use of certain medications, or social and economic factors, or even pregnancy and psychological disorders.
He stressed that any weight loss for those suffering from this problem can improve health problems, with the need to adhere to a healthy diet, increase physical activities, and sometimes it may require surgical intervention to lose weight.
body mass index and waist circumference
In its report, the association called for physicians to rely on measuring “body mass index” and “waist circumference” in order to predict potential weight risks for adults.
Jack Resnick Jr., former president of the association, said there were “numerous concerns about the way BMI is used to measure fat and diagnose obesity,” noting that some clinicians “find it a useful measure in certain scenarios.”
He added that it is important for clinicians to “understand the benefits and limitations of using BMI in different diagnostic settings to provide the best patient care.”
The Mayo Clinic stated that “many doctors measure a person’s waist circumference,” as health problems associated with being overweight increase among men whose waist circumference is more than 103 cm, and among women whose waist circumference is more than 89 cm.
The association urged doctors to rely on the body mass index with other measurements, such as the measure of visceral fat that accumulates in the abdomen around the liver and intestines, or the obesity index in the body, the relative body fat mass, and tracking the genetic factors of the person.
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