In a viral TikTok video, American athlete Ilona Maher just lately took a stand in opposition to physique shaming, shedding mild on the restrictions of the Physique Mass Index (BMI) as a measure of well being.
The U.S. girls’s rugby participant delivered a robust response to a social media commenter who made a disparaging comment referencing Maher’s BMI. The controversy started when the commenter guessed that Maher’s BMI was “30%.” (It’s value noting that BMI is not measured in percentages.)
It reignited the dialog about whether or not BMI numbers do extra hurt than good.
In her video, Maher acknowledged, “I do have a BMI of 30. Effectively, 29.3 to be precise.” She additionally defined that roughly 170 kilos of her 200-pound physique weight is lean mass.
The video has already been seen 4.3 million occasions and favored by greater than 629,000 folks. It resonates so deeply due to the issues in utilizing BMI as a well being metric.
What Dietitians Stated About Ilona Maher’s BMI Video
We requested a couple of dietitians for his or her reactions to the video—right here’s what they stated:
- Stephanie Nelson, MyFitnessPal Lead Diet Scientist & Registered Dietitian: “Ilona was spot-on! BMI doesn’t inform a narrative about an individual’s value or what they will do, a lot much less inform a narrative about how wholesome their physique is.”
- Brookell White, Registered Dietitian: “Yep, you heard her proper! BMI is calculated utilizing somebody’s top and weight. As a result of it’s solely utilizing these two measures, it doesn’t account for muscle mass or physique fats share and subsequently might not be a great indicator of weight problems for athletes.”
- Daisy Mercer, Registered Dietitian: “I like her a lot. BMI just isn’t the tip all be all and it’s usually a poor illustration of somebody’s total well being. It’s extra necessary to have a look at the large image and understand we’re all constructed in another way and have totally different exercise ranges that BMI can’t account for!”
Dietitians are likely to know the details relating to the usefulness of BMI. Maher stated within the video that she mentioned BMI along with her personal dietitian, together with particulars about what the quantity means and its usefulness.
However in case you aren’t totally satisfied, let’s dive somewhat deeper into what BMI is basically all about.
What’s BMI?
BMI is only a math method that divides an individual’s weight in kilograms by the sq. of their top in meters. It was initially developed within the nineteenth century by a statistician to have a look at weight knowledge on a inhabitants—not particular person—degree.
Whereas it has since been adopted by the World Well being Group (WHO) to categorise people into classes like underweight, wholesome weight, obese, and overweight, its usefulness has been broadly debated.
Athletes like Maher usually fall into the obese or overweight classes of the BMI, because of their spectacular muscle mass. A key drawback with BMI is that it fails to distinguish muscle from fats.
“BMI is only a comparability of top to weight, nothing extra,” Nelson says. “It doesn’t consider how a lot muscle an individual has, and by itself, it doesn’t say something about well being, way of life, or particularly value. BMI’s fundamental usefulness is that it corrects for variations in top when assessing weight.”
So, it’s useful when taking a look at giant populations over time to see if weights are growing or reducing on common, whereas correcting for top. However, that doesn’t imply it ought to be utilized on the person degree
What Ought to You Focus On As a substitute?
Reasonably than relying solely on BMI, take note of different indicators of well being and health. For athletes, efficiency metrics particular to their sport and place are essential.
For most individuals, the next components are extra necessary relating to getting a full image of your well being, based on Nelson:
- Physique fats share (your physician can measure this at your annual check-up!)
- Waist-to-hip ratio (you’ll be able to measure these with a tape measure on a month-to-month foundation to gauge adjustments)
- Total food regimen high quality (you’ll be able to higher gauge your consuming patterns by monitoring meals, like with MyFitnessPal)
- Life-style habits (you’ll be able to give attention to enhancing sleep, growing bodily exercise, and lowering stress)
- Physiological threat components (like blood glucose, ldl cholesterol, and blood stress)
“On the subject of stopping nutrition-related illness, many specialists are likely to care extra about how a lot adipose tissue [or fat] is sitting across the organs for a protracted time frame,” says Nelson. “That’s the visceral or stomach fats some folks carry round their midsection.
“Different markers to have a look at embody share of physique fats and waist-to-hip ratio,” says Nelson. “However it’s additionally necessary to think about food regimen habits as effectively. Are you getting sufficient protein, fiber, fruits, veggies, and complete grains?”
That’s another excuse why monitoring your meals might be very useful. You’ll see the way you stack up by way of protein and fiber and have entry to some helpful insights while you use an app like MyFitnessPal. (Obtain the app for FREE at present!)
Maher concluded her viral video by talking on to her heckler and reminding us all that she is an elite athlete acting on the largest stage.
It’s a robust reminder that your BMI says nothing about what you’re able to. On the subject of understanding your well being, it may possibly by no means be decreased to a single quantity, whether or not it’s BMI or the quantity on the dimensions.
“BMI is just one teeny tiny piece of knowledge and we should always pay attention to its limitations,” says Nelson.