Who?
Dwight Howard. Does he look fat to you?
BMI is calculated using only two pieces of data,
height and mass. It completely ignores body composition – the amount of muscle vs.
fat in one’s body -- which is a much truer barometer of fitness. That’s why Dwight
and Gronk are overweight and obese according to charts. Muscle mass means nothing to a
BMI chart. Even age and gender aren’t part of the calculation.
Despite this, respected physicians and other medical professionals use this metric to label
perfectly normal people as overweight or obese.
BMI - What's it good for?
While Body Mass Index (BMI) can sometimes give you a general idea of your health,
it penalizes people for being fit.
Look at this picture of pro basketball player, Dwight Howard (left)
Although he may look like Superman – indeed his nickname is Superman --
at 6' 11", 265 pounds he has a Body Mass Index of 27 which according to standard
BMI charts is considered overweight.
It’s even worse for poor Rob Gronkowski (right). At 6’ 6”, 265 pounds Gronk’s BMI
is 30.6. Despite being built like a Greek God, BMI charts say he is obese.
Similarly, boxer Manny Pacquiao (5’ 6.5”, 113)
and actress Meghan Fox (5’ 6”, 114) are treated exactly the same and are both considered
underweight.
Who?
Rob Gronkowski. Does he look obese to you?
To be sure, there are many people with a high body mass index who are indeed obese.
But just about any pro athlete will also be classified as overweight. Most of us are somewhere in between.
Many in the health and wellness industries have suggested that BMI should be abandoned as a measure of
fitness especially as it relates to public or private health policy.
This is why Fitpacking doesn't measure BMI or use it as a metric to determine you health or
fitness level.
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