Over the past few years, body mass index, a ratio of a person's height and weight, has efficiently end up being a proxy for whether an individual is thought about healthy. Many U.S. companies utilize their employees' BMIs as a factor in identifying employees' healthcare expenses. And people with higher BMIs might quickly need to pay higher medical insurance premiums, if a guideline proposed in April by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is adopted.
However a new study led by UCLA psychologists has found that utilizing BMI to determine health improperly identifies more than 54 million Americans as "unhealthy," despite the fact that they are not. The scientists' findings are published online today in the International Journal of Obesity.
" Many individuals see obesity as a death sentence," stated A. Janet Tomiyama, an assistant professor of psychology in the UCLA College and the study's lead author. "But the information reveal there are 10s of countless people who are overweight and obese and are perfectly healthy."
The researchers analyzed the link between BMI-- which is calculated by dividing an individual's weight in kilograms by the square of the person's height in meters-- and numerous health markers, including high blood pressure and glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, using data from the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The study found that near to half of Americans who are thought about "overweight" by virtue of their BMIs (47.4 percent, or 34.4 million individuals) are healthy, as are 19.8 million who are considered "overweight.".
Provided their health readings other than BMI, the people in both of those groups would be unlikely to sustain higher medical expenses, and it would be unfair to charge them more for health care premiums, Tomiyama said.
Amongst the other findings:.
- More than 30 percent of those with BMIs in the "regular" range-- about 20.7 million individuals-- are really unhealthy based on their other health information.
- More than 2 million individuals who are thought about "extremely obese" by virtue of having a BMI of 35 or higher are really healthy. That's about 15 percent of Americans who are classified as extremely obese.
Tomiyama, who directs UCLA's Dieting, Stress and Health lab, likewise called DiSH, found in previous research that there was no clear connection in between weight loss and health enhancements associated with cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes and blood glucose levels.
She stated she was surprised at the magnitude of the numbers in the latest study.
" There are healthy people who could be penalized based upon a malfunctioning health step, while the unhealthy people of regular weight will fly under the radar and won't get charged more for their health insurance," she said. "Employers, policy makers and insurer should concentrate on actual health markers.".
Jeffrey Hunger, a co-author of the paper and a doctoral candidate at UC Santa Barbara, stated the research study reveals that BMI is a deeply flawed measure of health. "This need to be the last nail in the coffin for BMI," he said.
Appetite recommends that individuals focus on consuming a healthy diet and working out frequently, rather than consuming about their weight, and strongly opposes stigmatizing people who are overweight.
The proposed EEOC rule would permit companies to charge greater insurance coverage rates to people whose BMI is 25 or higher. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.99 is thought about typical, however the research study stresses that typical BMI needs to not be the main objective for keeping health.
Tomiyama is planning a new study of individuals with high BMIs who are very healthy. Prospective participants might call her laboratory to learn more.
Co-authors of the International Journal of Obesity research study are Jolene Nguyen-Cuu, manager of Tomiyama's lab, and Christine Wells, a UCLA statistical expert.