In a viral TikTok video, American athlete Ilona Maher not too long ago took a stand towards physique shaming, shedding mild on the constraints of the Physique Mass Index (BMI) as a measure of well being.
The U.S. girls’s rugby participant delivered a strong 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. Nicely, 29.3 to be actual.” 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 occasions and favored by greater than 629,000 folks. It resonates so deeply due to the failings 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 could accomplish and never for her BMI or weight on the size. It’s usually simple 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 could don’t for what dimension it’s! Athletes have to coach and gas at a stage that’s unprecedented within the basic inhabitants and we want extra sturdy girls like Ilona to point out our youthful inhabitants what’s really 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 establish a person’s well being standing or bodily health. BMI is a instrument, not a prognosis, and Ilona Maher is an ideal instance of this reality.”
- Stephanie Nelson, MyFitnessPal Lead Vitamin Scientist & Registered Dietitian: “Ilona was spot-on! BMI doesn’t inform a narrative about an individual’s value or what they will 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 share and due to this fact is probably not an excellent indicator of weight problems for athletes.”
- Daisy Mercer, Registered Dietitian: “I really like her a lot. BMI shouldn’t be the tip all be all and it’s usually a poor illustration of somebody’s general well being. It’s extra vital to have a look at the large image and notice we’re all constructed in another way and have totally different exercise ranges that BMI can’t account for!”
Dietitians are inclined to know the details in terms of 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 totally satisfied, let’s dive a little bit deeper into what BMI is actually 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 usually fall into the obese or overweight classes of the BMI, because of their spectacular muscle mass. A key downside 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 note of how a lot muscle an individual has, and by itself, it doesn’t say something about well being, way of life, or particularly value. BMI’s important usefulness is that it corrects for variations in top when assessing weight.”
So, it’s useful when giant populations over time to see if weights are rising or lowering on common, whereas correcting for top. However, that doesn’t imply it needs to be utilized on the person stage
What Ought to You Focus On As a substitute?
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 components are extra vital in terms of getting a full image of your well being, based on Nelson:
- Physique fats share (your physician can measure this at your annual check-up!)
- Waist-to-hip ratio (you’ll be able to measure these with a tape measure on a month-to-month foundation to gauge adjustments)
- Total weight loss program high quality (you’ll be able to higher gauge your consuming patterns by monitoring meals with MyFitnessPal)
- Way of life habits (you’ll be able to give attention to bettering sleep, rising bodily exercise, and decreasing stress)
- Physiological danger components (like blood glucose, ldl cholesterol, and blood strain)
“On the subject of stopping nutrition-related illness, many specialists are inclined to care extra about how a lot adipose tissue [or fat] is sitting across the organs for a protracted time period,” says Nelson. “That’s the visceral or stomach fats some folks carry round their midsection.”
“Different markers to have a look at embrace share of physique fats and waist-to-hip ratio,” says Nelson. “However it’s additionally vital to contemplate weight loss program habits as effectively. Are you getting sufficient protein, fiber, fruits, veggies, and complete grains?”
That’s one more reason why monitoring your meals may be very useful. You’ll see the way you stack up when it comes to protein and fiber and have entry to some helpful insights while you use an app like MyFitnessPal. (Obtain the app for FREE at this time!)
Maher concluded her viral video by talking on to her heckler and reminding us all that she is an elite athlete acting on the most important stage.
It’s a strong reminder that your BMI says nothing about what you’re able to. On the subject of understanding your well being, it could by no means be lowered to a single quantity, whether or not it’s BMI or the quantity on the size.
“BMI is just one teeny tiny piece of data and we must always concentrate on its limitations,” says Nelson.