In a viral TikTok video, American athlete Ilona Maher lately took a stand towards physique shaming, shedding gentle on the constraints 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 price noting that BMI is just not measured in percentages.)
It reignited the dialog about whether or not BMI numbers do extra hurt than good.
In her video, Maher acknowledged, “I do have a BMI of 30. Properly, 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 seen 4.3 million occasions 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 Stated 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 mentioned:
Joanna Gregg, Registered Dietitian: “I like that Ilona loves and appreciates her physique for what it will possibly accomplish and never for her BMI or weight on the size. 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 chubby BMI. Love your physique for what it will possibly don’t for what measurement it’s! Athletes have to coach and gasoline at a stage that’s extraordinary within the normal inhabitants and we want extra robust ladies like Ilona to indicate 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 information to guage or determine a person’s well being standing or bodily health. BMI is a instrument, not a prognosis, and Ilona Meher 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 price 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 peak 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 subsequently will not be a very good indicator of weight problems for athletes.”
Daisy Mercer, Registered Dietitian: “I like her a lot. BMI is just not the tip 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 in a different way and have totally different exercise ranges that BMI can’t account for!”
Dietitians are inclined to know the information on the subject of the usefulness of BMI. Maher mentioned 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 a bit deeper into what BMI is de facto all about.
What’s BMI?
BMI is only a math formulation that divides an individual’s weight in kilograms by the sq. of their peak in meters. It was initially developed within the nineteenth century by a statistician to have a look at weight information 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, chubby, and overweight, its usefulness has been broadly debated.
Athletes like Maher typically fall into the chubby or overweight classes of the BMI, due to their spectacular muscle mass. A key drawback with BMI is that it fails to distinguish muscle from fats.
“BMI is only a comparability of peak 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 price. BMI’s essential usefulness is that it corrects for variations in peak when assessing weight.”
So, it’s useful when giant populations over time to see if weights are growing or lowering on common, whereas correcting for peak. However, that doesn’t imply it must be utilized on the person stage
What Ought to You Focus On As a substitute?
Moderately than relying solely 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 on the subject of getting a full image of your well being, in accordance with Nelson:
Physique fats proportion (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, like with MyFitnessPal)
Life-style habits (you’ll be able to concentrate on bettering sleep, growing bodily exercise, and decreasing stress)
Physiological danger elements (like blood glucose, ldl cholesterol, and blood stress)
“Relating to stopping nutrition-related illness, many consultants are inclined to care extra about how a lot adipose tissue [or fat] is sitting across the organs for an extended time frame,” says Nelson. “That’s the visceral or belly fats some folks carry round their midsection.
“Different markers to have a look at embrace proportion 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 could 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 if you use an app like MyFitnessPal. (Obtain the app for FREE in the present day!)
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 robust reminder that your BMI says nothing about what you’re able to. Relating to understanding your well being, it will possibly by no means be diminished 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 pay attention to its limitations,” says Nelson.