Body Mass Index Not Accurate Measure of Disease Risk

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Category: Obesity/Overweight/Fitness News

Article 30 Nov 2005

 

It's not a license to pig out over the holidays, but a recent study

concluded body mass index is not an accurate measure of a person's

risk of early death.

 

Researchers linked self-reported height and weight data with causes

of death and found " normal " weight men with a BMI of 20-25 had the

same risk of mortality as men with BMIs classifying them as mildly

obese. For women, researchers found the risk of mortality is smallest

for those with BMIs or 23-24, and mortality increases steadily with

BMI greater than 27.

 

Yet mortality risk increases in the study were small for those with

BMIs of 25-35, suggesting " negligible risk differences for minor

differences in weight for most of the population. " [ " A

Semiparametric Analysis of the Body Mass Index's Relationship to

Mortality. "

 

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