BMI stands for Body Mass Index and is calculated and is calculated by obtaining a person’s weight in kg divided by the square of their height in meters. Per the BMI scale, anyone with a BMI greater than 25 is considered overweight and anyone above 30 is considered obese. BMI was originally created in the 1830s-1850s by a mathematician and astronomer in Belgium and it was recognized by the National Institute of Health in the 1980s as a health marker for obesity.
BMI has always had its flaws because it does not consider body fat percentage vs muscle mass, water weight, and bone mass and unfortunately, for so long, it was the primary indicator that practitioners used to determine health.
According to Gisela Bouvier, it’s important to look at all of their biomarkers, their past medical history, their genetics, where they come from, their physical activity, their sleep and so much more when truly assessing someone’s health status and how we determine how to help them.
