The BMI needs to go

By Libby D’Orvilliers

It isn’t a shock to most that the body mass index is an outdated and, quite frankly, irrelevant measure of health. Let’s quickly review some of the reasons why the BMI is so problematic. 

The BMI is nearly two centuries old, a little more than outdated, if you ask me. Humans’ lifestyles and their society naturally evolve and change, and we should have our measures of health adapt with them.

When it was first invented, the BMI was based on a sample of primarily European, white men — not the most diverse group. There are endless sex-based and cultural differences that affect a person’s overall health that will definitely not be represented on a scale built exclusively off of middle-aged white men. 

In addition, the BMI was not originally created with the intent of measuring health but rather, as a tool to study populations as a unit.

One can calculate their BMI by dividing their weight by their height squared. They can then sort themselves into a category based on their numerical “score” and be fixed with a label of “underweight,” “healthy weight,” “overweight” or “obese.” Certainly, a calculation so simple that a seventh-grader could perform it should not represent an entire person’s overall health.

Jen King, an assistant professor-lecturer in Rider’s psychology department, noted that these labels are “problematic across the spectrum” due to their simplistic nature and lack of nuance. She shared that individuals often internalize these labels and that they “make them feel so much shame about themselves and their bodies.”

Fixating on meeting arbitrary numerical criteria to fit the “healthy weight” label within the BMI can cultivate obsessive, unhealthy focuses on one’s appearance, which can cause mental stress that can lead someone to engage in maladaptive behaviors, such as crash dieting.

Rider’s registered dietitian, Amy Focht, emphasized that “we need to look at [an individual’s health] from all sides,” considering their genetic predispositions, culture and family history when assessing someone’s overall health status. There are many more aspects to health, like metabolic rate, blood pressure, lung capacity, endurance and emotional health that influence the life expectancy and overall health of an individual.

Essentially, the BMI is more of a tool used to perpetuate modern society’s fatphobia than to actually describe a person’s overall health.

So why on earth are individuals in the medical field calling BMI anything other than what it is — a hot dumpster fire?

Is the excuse that they don’t have any better tools? Discourses surrounding how to assess and label one’s health have increased recently. Professionals have suggested implementing the body roundness index, skinfold thickness and waist-to-hip ratio in place of the BMI.

These measures are not perfect solutions either. “Anything that can be calculated within five minutes is not a good indicator for health, whatsoever,” Focht argued.

I have a simple proposition: how about we stop measuring people’s bodies? Giving people labels of “healthy” or “unhealthy” based on such a small portion of the picture can be detrimental to a person’s health. 

We must prioritize individual-centered approaches so we can determine health status based on one’s life and background.

Instead of pinching a person’s skin with a medieval-torture-like device called a caliper, how about medical professionals actually speak to the person in front of them and ask how they are doing. Medical professionals should focus more on utilizing questions about an individual’s ability to complete their unique daily functions and their experiences living in their bodies to get an accurate picture of the many different nuances and facets of overall health.

Focht emphasized that “it is very important that you advocate for yourself,” encouraging individuals to seek another healthcare provider if they experience weight bias in a healthcare setting.

King also emphasized the importance of after-care when one experiences weight-based discrimination and encourages individuals to utilize their unique supportive networks to validate their experience and help debrief.

Health is such an individual experience and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. It is about time we ditch the BMI and start having open, individualized conversations about a person’s wellbeing.

Libby D’Orvilliers is a junior psychology major