OBESITY Free for LIFE

BMI and the Obesity Paradox

 

The Body Mass Index (BMI) , or Quetelet index, named for the mathematician Adolphe Quetelet who created it in the 1800’s, was designed as an measure of a population and not as a means to measure individuals.  It is only a statistical tool that merely indicates adiposity (degree of fatness).  Based solely on height and weight information, it fails to account for varying proportions of muscularity, fat, bone, water weight, or one’s level of fitness.  Competitive athletes frequently measure obese due to there increased muscularity and weight, in relation to their height.  Furthermore, the various classifications of Starvation /Underweight /Normal /Overweight /Obese /Morbidly Obese have been found to have wildly varying health benefits across numerous epidemiological studies. 

Unfortunately, the “war on obesity” and the excessive media focus upon this “war” has shown the limitations of such an arbitrary measure.  Repeatedly, we are being inundated with the message to get our BMI down to a “normal” level (18.5-24.9) or else risk the dire consequences.  Yet, in study and after study, researchers continue to be confounded by what is called the Obesity Paradox; most fat people actually live longer than thin people!  In 2006, the American Heart Association reported that “obese” cardiac patients were more than TWICE as likely to survive hospitalization and invasive surgery then “normal” patients…this was taken from a study of over 130,000 heart disease patients. 

 

This Obesity Paradox is not just being seen with heart disease…it has also been reported with dialysis patients.  “Obese” patients are more likely to survive than their smaller counterparts.  As it turns out, patients with kidney disease, often present with malnutrition, called Kidney Disease Wasting, and the obese populations within this group actually fare better due to increased reserves!  In fact, there are many areas where the “obese” are showing to have greater survival rates – possibly due to a protective benefit of fat as we age; cancer, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and even type 2 diabetes. 

 

What does this all mean to us?  Should we allow ourselves to get fatter and fatter – and fell guilty about it?  That is not a question I can answer for anyone but myself.  I know that I feel better at certain weights than others.  I also know that I will never be “actress thin” in a safe way…therefore, accepting my body as I am, and living within it each day is best I can advise for myself or anyone else.