In a viral TikTok video, American athlete Ilona Maher just lately took a stand towards 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 price 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 said, “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 instances and preferred by greater than 629,000 individuals. It resonates so deeply due to the issues in utilizing BMI as a well being metric.
What Dietitians Mentioned About Ilona Maher’s BMI Video
We requested just a few dietitians for his or her reactions to the video—right here’s what they stated:
- Stephanie Nelson, MyFitnessPal Lead Vitamin Scientist & Registered Dietitian: “Ilona was spot-on! BMI doesn’t inform a narrative about an individual’s price or what they’ll 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 due to this fact is probably not indicator of weight problems for athletes.”
- Daisy Mercer, Registered Dietitian: “I really like her a lot. BMI will not be the tip all be all and it’s typically a poor illustration of somebody’s general well being. It’s extra essential to take a look at the massive image and notice we’re all constructed in another way and have completely different exercise ranges that BMI can’t account for!”
Dietitians are inclined to know the details with regards 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 a bit 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 take a look at weight knowledge on a inhabitants—not particular person—stage.
Whereas it has since been adopted by the World Well being Group (WHO) to categorise people into classes like underweight, wholesome weight, chubby, and overweight, its usefulness has been extensively debated.
Athletes like Maher typically fall into the chubby or overweight classes of the BMI, due to their spectacular muscle mass. A key downside 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 take note of how a lot muscle an individual has, and by itself, it doesn’t say something about well being, way of life, or particularly price. BMI’s important 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 lowering on common, whereas correcting for top. However, that doesn’t imply it ought to be utilized on the person stage
What Ought to You Focus On As a substitute?
Quite 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 elements are extra essential with regards to getting a full image of your well being, in response to Nelson:
- Physique fats share (your physician can measure this at your annual check-up!)
- Waist-to-hip ratio (you possibly can measure these with a tape measure on a month-to-month foundation to gauge adjustments)
- General weight loss program high quality (you possibly can higher gauge your consuming patterns by monitoring meals, like with MyFitnessPal)
- Life-style habits (you possibly can concentrate on enhancing sleep, growing bodily exercise, and lowering stress)
- Physiological threat elements (like blood glucose, ldl cholesterol, and blood stress)
“In the case of stopping nutrition-related illness, many specialists are inclined to care extra about how a lot adipose tissue [or fat] is sitting across the organs for an extended time period,” says Nelson. “That’s the visceral or belly fats some individuals carry round their midsection.
“Different markers to take a look at embody share of physique fats and waist-to-hip ratio,” says Nelson. “But it surely’s additionally essential to contemplate weight loss program habits as effectively. Are you getting sufficient protein, fiber, fruits, veggies, and entire grains?”
That’s one more reason why monitoring your meals could be very useful. You’ll see the way you stack up when it comes to protein and fiber and have entry to some helpful insights while you use an app like MyFitnessPal. (Obtain the app for FREE right this moment!)
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. In the case of understanding your well being, it might by no means be diminished to a single quantity, whether or not it’s BMI or the quantity on the dimensions.
“BMI is just one teeny tiny piece of data and we must always concentrate on its limitations,” says Nelson.
