According to the ol’ Google Machine, people believe it is racist because its standard is based on typical white people in the 1940s, which doesn’t account for the different body compositions of people of other ethnicities. Mainly, it seems like the issue is its lack of accuracy and overuse to diagnose/rule out certain conditions, especially for insurance coverage. Whether that would be called racist by some people or just overall not-useful is probably up for debate.
It was designed for the military, suborned by the insurance companies, adopted by the US government, and about 30 years ago they changed overweight/obese from 30/35 to 25/30 on “feels right” levels of evidence.
BMI is also musclephobic, heightist, and thick head/armtlegist.
As a guy who lost 75 lbs about 8 years ago I was obsessed with BMI but I have learned over the years that BMI number alone means nothing. However that BMI number along with other numbers starts to tells a story. I kept the weight off , I eat great , I work out , I walk or run everyday and I’m still not at my ideal BMI number.
BMI is useful for population averages, and not so much for individuals. For myself, I use the BNI. The Belt Notch Indicator. If the belt notches move one way, I’m getting fatter, if the belt notch moves the other way, I’m getting leaner.
The BMI scale is actually a pretty useful tool for gauging someone’s health. Obviously far from the only factor but it’s a good indicator. A lot more than the ‘it doesn’t account for muscle’ people would have you think
While true, it doesn’t account for LBM, most people aren’t carrying that much LBM where it would put them over a 30 BMI. And if you are over a 30 BMI, and someone who lifts weights, it’s likely because you’re carrying too much bodyfat. If that person were to get to a healthy bodyfat range then theyd be below a 30 BMI. Only enhanced athletes are carrying that much LBM while being in a healthy bodyfat range. And weighing that much comes with it’s own risks whether they’re lean or not. And obviously gear use in of itself can have negative health consequences too
So for the vast majority of the population it’s definitely a pretty good indicator. When it comes to athletes or those trying to maximize hypertrophy, then it becomes less useful. However still more useful than the average gym rat would have you think. We still need to look at body fat percentage, bloodwork and a bunch of other things too
There’s so much to it- if you really want to know, a podcast delves into in great detail and there’s a lot to it. It’s called The Maintenance Phase (BMI episode) and it’s a well researched podcast about the many fallacies behind “wellness” and diet culture. Basically it’s based on information collected for the median height/weight info on only white men. It’s been updated many times since it’s inception and each time, the overweight threshold gets lower and lower- most recently in the 90s, conspicuously right around the time several pharmaceutical diet pills were being released. Racism part- it doesn’t take into account that some ethnicities have different average body types and therefore different healthy weights need to apply- but everyone is being measured the exact same. It causes more problems than it helps.
The ABSI is a better alternative to the BMI, since it takes into account different “body shapes”. Notably, it’s takes weight, height, age, sex, and waist into account.
If you have a high score on even this…..then yes, you’re obese.
“Today, some experts argue, this measure is no longer relevant to the country’s population. America’s demographic fabric has dramatically shifted over the past century. People of color make up 40 percent of the U.S. population, and research has shown that Black and White people tend to have different body compositions. While the WHO released adjusted cut points for people of Asian descent, who have a higher risk of certain metabolic diseases at lower BMI, leading institutions have not adopted metrics specific to Latino and Black people. So when BMI is applied to everyone in the country, “we presume that how we were in the 1940s really reflects how we are in 2021 — and you can see how that might be problematic,” said Stanford.”