In a viral TikTok video, American athlete Ilona Maher not too long ago took a stand in opposition to physique shaming, shedding mild on the restrictions of the Physique Mass Index (BMI) as a measure of well being.
The U.S. ladies’s rugby participant delivered a robust response to a social media commenter who made a disparaging comment referencing Maher’s BMI. The controversy started when the commenter guessed that Maher’s BMI was “30%.” (It’s value noting that BMI is not measured in percentages.)
It reignited the dialog about whether or not BMI numbers do extra hurt than good.
In her video, Maher said, “I do have a BMI of 30. Properly, 29.3 to be precise.” She additionally defined that roughly 170 kilos of her 200-pound physique weight is lean mass.
The video has already been considered 4.3 million instances and preferred by greater than 629,000 folks. It resonates so deeply due to the issues in utilizing BMI as a well being metric.
What Dietitians Mentioned About Ilona Maher’s BMI Video
We requested a couple of dietitians for his or her reactions to the video—right here’s what they stated:
- Joanna Gregg, Registered Dietitian: “I really like that Ilona loves and appreciates her physique for what it might accomplish and never for her BMI or weight on the dimensions. It’s typically straightforward to lose sight of that as BMI is utilized in healthcare as a determinant of well being. An individual at a wholesome BMI can 100% be much less bodily match than an individual with an obese BMI. Love your physique for what it might don’t for what dimension it’s! Athletes have to coach and gas at a stage that’s exceptional within the normal inhabitants and we want extra robust ladies like Ilona to indicate our youthful inhabitants what’s actually vital.”
- Katherine Basbaum, Registered Dietitian: “An ideal real-life illustration of how BMI, like weight and like age, is only a quantity and shouldn’t be used as stand-alone knowledge to guage or determine a person’s well being standing or bodily health. BMI is a device, not a prognosis, and Ilona Maher is an ideal instance of this truth.”
- Stephanie Nelson, MyFitnessPal Lead Diet Scientist & Registered Dietitian: “Ilona was spot-on! BMI doesn’t inform a narrative about an individual’s value or what they’ll do, a lot much less inform a narrative about how wholesome their physique is.”
- Brookell White, Registered Dietitian: “Yep, you heard her proper! BMI is calculated utilizing somebody’s top and weight. As a result of it’s solely utilizing these two measures, it doesn’t account for muscle mass or physique fats proportion and due to this fact might not be a superb indicator of weight problems for athletes.”
- Daisy Mercer, Registered Dietitian: “I really like her a lot. BMI will not be the top all be all and it’s typically a poor illustration of somebody’s general well being. It’s extra vital to have a look at the massive image and understand we’re all constructed otherwise and have completely different exercise ranges that BMI can’t account for!”
Dietitians are likely to know the info in relation to the usefulness of BMI. Maher stated within the video that she mentioned BMI together with her personal dietitian, together with particulars about what the quantity means and its usefulness.
However in case you aren’t absolutely satisfied, let’s dive somewhat deeper into what BMI is de facto all about.
What’s BMI?
BMI is only a math components that divides an individual’s weight in kilograms by the sq. of their top in meters. It was initially developed within the nineteenth century by a statistician to have a look at weight knowledge on a inhabitants—not particular person—stage.
Whereas it has since been adopted by the World Well being Group (WHO) to categorise people into classes like underweight, wholesome weight, obese, and overweight, its usefulness has been extensively debated.
Athletes like Maher typically fall into the obese or overweight classes of the BMI, because of their spectacular muscle mass. A key drawback with BMI is that it fails to distinguish muscle from fats.
“BMI is only a comparability of top to weight, nothing extra,” Nelson says. “It doesn’t take into consideration how a lot muscle an individual has, and by itself, it doesn’t say something about well being, life-style, or particularly value. BMI’s predominant usefulness is that it corrects for variations in top when assessing weight.”
So, it’s useful when taking a look at giant populations over time to see if weights are rising or reducing on common, whereas correcting for top. However, that doesn’t imply it must be utilized on the person stage
What Ought to You Focus On As an alternative?
Quite than relying completely on BMI, take note of different indicators of well being and health. For athletes, efficiency metrics particular to their sport and place are essential.
For most individuals, the next elements are extra vital in relation to getting a full image of your well being, in line with Nelson:
- Physique fats proportion (your physician can measure this at your annual check-up!)
- Waist-to-hip ratio (you may measure these with a tape measure on a month-to-month foundation to gauge modifications)
- Total weight-reduction plan high quality (you may higher gauge your consuming patterns by monitoring meals with MyFitnessPal)
- Life-style habits (you may deal with bettering sleep, rising bodily exercise, and decreasing stress)
- Physiological danger elements (like blood glucose, ldl cholesterol, and blood stress)
“In relation to stopping nutrition-related illness, many consultants are likely to care extra about how a lot adipose tissue [or fat] is sitting across the organs for a protracted time frame,” says Nelson. “That’s the visceral or stomach fats some folks carry round their midsection.”
“Different markers to have a look at embody proportion of physique fats and waist-to-hip ratio,” says Nelson. “Nevertheless it’s additionally vital to contemplate weight-reduction plan habits as effectively. Are you getting sufficient protein, fiber, fruits, veggies, and entire grains?”
That’s another excuse why monitoring your meals will be very useful. You’ll see the way you stack up by way of protein and fiber and have entry to some helpful insights if you use an app like MyFitnessPal. (Obtain the app for FREE as we speak!)
Maher concluded her viral video by talking on to her heckler and reminding us all that she is an elite athlete acting on the largest stage.
It’s a robust reminder that your BMI says nothing about what you’re able to. In relation to understanding your well being, it might by no means be decreased to a single quantity, whether or not it’s BMI or the quantity on the dimensions.
“BMI is just one teeny tiny piece of data and we should always pay attention to its limitations,” says Nelson.
