BMI - Why continue with this ridiculous measurement?

Body Mass Index - BMI - was in the news again as it is still so widely used as a measurement of obesity. It is of course in some cases woefully inadequate and it does not take a rocket scientist to work out why.

Measuring body weight by height and coming to the dubious decision that someone is obese or not is foolhardy as it can have a negative impact. Many people do not realise that health insurance increases based on your BMI and even can decide whether you are fit enough to be operated on.

A couple of years ago a friend - a very fit and athletic individual - was booked in for a minor operation. His height and weight were measured and then his BMI was calculated. To the amusement of all he was labeled obese. His problem was through sports and training he had accumulated a lean, lithe and well muscled body. As muscle weighs heavier than fat his weight increased. When I took his body fat % along with his waist measurements we found he had 7% fat (which is right up there with the olympic athletes) and a waist size of 30. In addition he can run 1 mile in 6 minutes without breaking sweat an achievement for someone more suited to fast pace sports than long distance running.

Fulham FC were recently in the news as many of their players had very high BMI measurements. It really is a rather ridiculous method to measure obesity and one that can hit us in the pocket.