How good is BMI as an Indicator of Body Fatness?
How good is BMI as an indicator of body fatness?
It is common that your body stores energy in the form of fat. However, if you take too much or too little body fat, then it can increase your risk of illness and disease. Keep in mind that the risks depend on where your body stores it. No doubt, there are multiple methods to measure an individual’s fitness but Body Mass Index (BMI) is one of the best measurements. It is a cheaper alternative source used to estimate an individual’s level of personal body fitness and tells their risk for situations such as heart disease and diabetes.
BMI works as an indicator for body fitness:
BMI is a helpful
indicator of health that particularly comes at the population level. Regardless, the distribution of fat in your body is vital when considering your disease risk. Generally, Body mass index (BMI) is an approximate measurement of your best weight for a healthy body. BMI is typically planned for adults and teenagers only because children and adolescents regularly grow. However, in adults there is an increase in BMI caused by an increase in body fat because they are stop growing.
In general,
-
Typically, women contain more body fat as compared to the men if both have same BMI
-
Remember that the amount of body fat in humans may be higher or lower as it depends on the racial/ethnic group 13-15 at the same BMI.
-
Older people on average contain more body fat than younger adults if the BMI is the same.
-
However, athletes maintain less body fat than non-athletes in case both have the same BMI.
It is noticed that the precision of BMI (Body Mass Index) as an predictor of body fatness occurs to be higher in persons that have higher levels of BMI and body fitness. On the other hand, an individual who has a very high body mass index like 35 kg/m^2 contains high body fat. Generally, a moderately high BMI can have effects on either high body fat or high skinny body mass (muscle and bone). It is necessary for a trained healthcare provider that he should perform proper health fitness to determine a person's health status and risks.
Waist circumference is an indicator of increased disease risk:
An individual’s waist circumference is a more useful indicator to determine health risk than BMI. When it is crucial to identify the health risk in adults, then it is suggested you combine BMI calculation with your waist circumference to analyze disease risk. In case you have fat around the abdomen or a ‘pot belly’, and there is no effect on your body size. It means that you are suffering from certain obesity-related health conditions. According to the research, the distribution of body fat is related to an increased majority of diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and more.
Generally, the connections between health threats and body fat distribution are:
-
least risk
-
moderate risk
-
moderate to high risk
Hence, BMI is the best indicator that helps you if you are suffering from certain diseases.
