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cabalavatar t1_ixzf4iv wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Why do children with a higher bmi start puberty earlier? by -LoveMeMore

Higher BMI does not necessarily mean more fat. I was a very athletic and naturally large kid even before puberty, with a high BMI and little fat. See also bodybuilders, US football linebackers, rowers, etc.

BMI is just bad science, and the medical field would do well to scrap its use.

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Anachronism-- t1_ixzskip wrote

There was a group of doctors who got sick of hearing “BMI doesn’t apply to me because I’m so muscular”. So anytime they heard that they pulled out the body fat calipers. The vast majority of these patients had unhealthy levels of body fat.

Edit - I can’t find the article and don’t remember the specifics but the main takeaway was of people who claimed BMI didn’t apply to them the vast majority where overfat.

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[deleted] t1_ixzsykx wrote

[deleted]

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rymep t1_ixzu92b wrote

Why? if someone says "BMI is useless and doesn't apply to me" shouldn't they be happy the doctor is going to use another metric instead of just sticking to BMI?

That's what a good doctor should do, find another metric that the patient can relate to.

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Anachronism-- t1_ixzt6lb wrote

What is pseudoscience? Body fat? Skinfold caliper tests? Being overweight is unhealthy?

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ProofJournalist t1_iy08vv9 wrote

I bet you'd report a doctor for hurting your feelings if they accurately diagnosed you with cancer

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rymep t1_ixzmxcg wrote

The medical field doesn't use BMI for children (under 18) and understands what population it's not useful for. It's popular to bash on BMI, but for population level studies it's still a reasonably useful metric.

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DessaStrick t1_ixzvc79 wrote

Hah. Tell that to my pediatrician who was very focused on my BMI.

Also being an NP myself now, as an adult, have never heard of not using BMI below 18.

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