Over the past couple of years, body mass index, a ratio of an individual's height and weight, has efficiently become a proxy for whether an individual is thought about healthy. Numerous U.S. companies use their staff members' BMIs as a factor in identifying employees' healthcare costs. And individuals with higher BMIs might quickly need to pay higher health insurance premiums, if a rule proposed in April by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is embraced.
But a brand-new research study led by UCLA psychologists has actually found that using BMI to assess health incorrectly labels more than 54 million Americans as "unhealthy," despite the fact that they are not. The researchers' findings are published online today in the International Journal of Obesity.
" Many people see obesity as a death sentence," said A. Janet Tomiyama, an assistant teacher of psychology in the UCLA College and the study's lead author. "But the information show there are 10s of countless people who are obese and overweight and are perfectly healthy."
The researchers evaluated the link between BMI-- which is determined by dividing a person's weight in kgs by the square of the person's height in meters-- and a number of health markers, including high blood pressure and glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels, utilizing information from the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The research study found that near half of Americans who are considered "overweight" by virtue of their BMIs (47.4 percent, or 34.4 million people) are healthy, as are 19.8 million who are considered "overweight.".
Given their health readings besides BMI, individuals in both of those groups would be unlikely to incur higher medical costs, and it would be unfair to charge them more for healthcare premiums, Tomiyama said.
Among the other findings:.
- More than 30 percent of those with BMIs in the "normal" range-- about 20.7 million individuals-- are really unhealthy based upon their other health information.
- More than 2 million individuals who are thought about "really overweight" by virtue of having a BMI of 35 or greater are actually healthy. That's about 15 percent of Americans who are categorized as really obese.
Tomiyama, who directs UCLA's Dieting, Stress and Health lab, likewise called DiSH, discovered in previous research study that there was no clear connection in between weight loss and health improvements related to cholesterol, hypertension, and diabetes and blood sugar levels.
She said she was surprised at the magnitude of the numbers in the current study.
" There are healthy individuals who could be punished based upon a faulty health procedure, while the unhealthy individuals of normal weight will fly under the radar and won't get charged more for their medical insurance," she stated. "Employers, policy makers and insurance companies should focus on real health markers.".
Jeffrey Hunger, a co-author of the paper and a doctoral candidate at UC Santa Barbara, said the research reveals that BMI is a deeply problematic measure of health. "This need to be the last nail in the coffin for BMI," he stated.
Appetite recommends that individuals concentrate on eating a healthy diet and working out frequently, rather than consuming about their weight, and highly opposes stigmatizing individuals who are overweight.
The proposed EEOC guideline would allow companies to charge greater insurance coverage rates to individuals whose BMI is 25 or higher. A BMI in between 18.5 and 24.99 is considered typical, however the study emphasizes that regular BMI must not be the primary goal for preserving health.
Tomiyama is planning a brand-new research study of individuals with high BMIs who are extremely healthy. Prospective participants may contact her lab for more information.
Co-authors of the International Journal of Obesity research study are Jolene Nguyen-Cuu, manager of Tomiyama's laboratory, and Christine Wells, a UCLA statistical analyst.