For those of you who don't follow Australian Football this is Lance 'Buddy' Franklin. One of the games better known players he moved from Hawthorn to Sydney last year for the record fee of $9,000,000 over 10 years. As you can see in this photo, he is all muscle. But not according to his BMI.
The BMI score for Buddy is 26 which means that he would be told that he is overweight. He would also be told that this extra weight could cause some health issues and that he should try and lose some weight to get his BMI below 25.
The reason that Buddy's BMI reads high is because it can only go on weight and height. It can't tell if that weight is muscle or fat. It also can't tell how old a person is, which is important because as you get older your bones become less porous and weight more. When I used to do health checks on older people they frequently had higher BMI scores even though they were of a healthy weight.
This is a photo of Dr Michael Mosely. You may have seen one of his documentaries or read one of his books. He wrote the "Fast Diet" where you have restricted calories for 2 days a week and eat what you want the other 5 days. Whilst his BMI was within normal limits a MRI scan showed that he was a 'TOFI', which stands for 'thin on the outside, fat on the inside'. In other words he had fat around his vital organs. The photos of him before and after he lost a little weight on the 5:2 (fast) diet show that he lost some weight around his abdomen and a repeat MRI scan showed that he has reduced the fat around his organs.
A BMI also doesn't tell you where the fat is, if there is any additional fat, which is very important because fat around the buttocks and thighs doesn't have the same health issues as fat around the abdomen.
Fat around the abdomen is a better indicator of possible health issues for several reasons. These include an indication of fat around the vital organs causing pressure, reduced effectiveness and poor health outcomes. It can also cause breathlessness because it impacts on the lungs.
Using a tape measure offers an indication of abdominal fat and internal fat. For Europeans the recommended waist measurement is less than 80 cm for a woman (88 for men). This measurement changes for different geographic characteristics. This measurement allows for differing body types such as a pear or apple. You may have an hourglass figure with a smaller waist and larger hips or be almost straight up and down. Whatever your shape type your waist should still be less than 80 cm and you can measure this easily on a weekly or monthly basis.
If you are currently working towards weight loss you can measure other areas such as your hips and thighs to chart your progress. Using a tape measure for waist measurements is a simple and effective way to ensure that you are maintaining your weight.
At present there is a debate between medical professionals about using a tape measure in preference to a BMI score and it will take several years for the change to filter through, however the evidence appears to be mounting in favour of the simple tape measure.
Enjoy reaching and maintaining your healthy weight goal
Sarah
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