From a teen's perspective: Body Mass Index
Weight is generally something people are self-conscious about. Throughout the pandemic, people have been staying home more often, especially during 2020. The trends we had during the middle of the pandemic were mostly based on watching TV shows, baking, or making TikToks. This has left many people feeling bad about their weight. As yearly check-ups at the doctor’s office begin, I bring you a fact of reassurance. Body Mass Index (BMI) is consistently inaccurate and an overly simplified way to determine obesity.
To calculate this outdated measure (it was developed in the mid-1800s), you only measure weight divided by height squared. This makes it helpful for short-term reporting as minimal measurements are required. The calculation is easy to do, making it the primary choice for most physicians.
However, the bad outweighs the good. BMI does not take into consideration the weight difference between fat, muscle, and bone. With this, location and distribution of fat also matter. This leads BMI to tell muscular people they’re overweight, especially athletes.
An alternative way to tell if one is obese is percent body fat (PBF). PBF is the total body fat divided by the total mass. If the classification of obese by PBF is correct, BMI classifies 22.25% women as obese when they’re not, and 42.6% of men as obese when they’re not. This is causing unnecessary self-esteem issues by simply telling people they have a health issue when they don't.
Overall, if you go to the doctor and you're not pleased by your BMI report, don’t be too alarmed. Hospitalizations from eating disorders have increased during Covid for adolescents, as people are beginning to believe they’re obese.
The past year has been hard on everyone. No matter how your body looks right now, it has gotten you through a pandemic, so far. Make sure you are eating enough and staying hydrated. We’re all getting through this together, and no one should be judging how your body looks during this or any other time.
Works Cited:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167629607001130
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167629607001130
