I’ve always been a chunky kid, therefore from an early age, I was introduced to the Body Mass Index chart. I was young then so I didn’t comprehend what they meant by me being in a certain percentile. All I knew was that I was a little overweight compared to my peers. I'm not saying that BMI scarred me for life all I am saying is it is a terrible measurement of health.
The sole reason I hate BMI is because it boils down everything to a singular number. If you aren’t blessed with a doctor who has the time, capacity and willingness to go in depth you are defined by a number. Just imagine that — it is almost as degrading as Christina Yang naming her surgical interns numbers.
Health should never be defined by one singular data point. You will not convince me that this number gives insight to how well I eat, my genetic history, my activity levels, access to food, or that candy bar I passed on when I easily could’ve eaten it in 0.9 seconds (Guinness Book of World Records, HMU).
The best part about BMI is that it shows literally your weight (mass times gravity) compared to the weight of other people your age. You could be all muscle and weigh a decent amount and be considered overweight.
I am leaving BMI in 2017 and so should you.
