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BMI
Body Mass Index became popular in the 1980s but was invented in the mid 1800s by Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgium mathematician, statistician and astronomer. Quetelet decided that he could apply laws governing astronomy to humans to come up with the “average man.” He believed that anyone who deviated from “average man” would be more likely to be criminals, so identifying “average man” would also help identify deviants in society. Quetelet measured and weighed 5000 Scottish soldiers and found that their sizes, when plotted on a graph, produced a bell shaped curve. Those at the top of the curve happened to have weights that were proportional to their height, a mathematician’s delight. Now an equation could be formulated to define this proportional measurement. Since a math equation could be devised, Quetelet concluded that those at the top of the bell curve defined “average man” and “ideal” weight and that is how the Body Mass Index, or Quetelet Index, came into being. The health industry picked it up in the 80s to determine body fatness, even though BMI doesn’t tell us anything about body composition. Many athletes are considered obese based on BMI, but their “excess” weight is due to muscle, not fat. The current BMI numbers are based on 18 year olds where a BMI of less than 25 is considered normal, 25 to 29 is overweight and above 30 is obese, but before 1997, a normal BMI was below 27. Overnight, millions of Americans became overweight without gaining a single pound and it just so happens that about 50% of the population has a BMI of 25. Lowering the normal limit for BMI created a way for health agencies to get funding for obesity research and gave the diet and pharmaceutical industries more people to sell their products to.
The height/weight tables were designed to put more money into the pockets of insurance companies and had nothing to do with health or science and BMI is simply a measurement of proportionate body weight, not body fat and BMI changes as we age, so the 18 year old reference for BMI can hardly be applied to adults. Recent studies have also suggested that different ethnic groups have different “ideal” BMIs. But, so far, no one has been able to link a weight that is proportional to height with health. Both BMI and height/weight tables are arbitrary numbers that have no real meaning when it comes to health and disease. Forcing humans of all ages and ethnicities to conform to an “ideal” or “average” weight is insane and creates far worse problems than obesity. Besides, God did not create any of us to be average. We are all beautifully unique individuals and having a height and weight that doesn’t fit into a mathematical formula doesn’t make us any less desirable than someone who does fit in the formula.
So what does the research tell us about weight? In 2005, Katherine Flegal reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that people with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 (overweight) live longer than people with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 (normal). Older people live longer with higher BMIs and people at both low and high ends of BMI are more likely to die than people in the middle. Death does not correlate with a high BMI until BMI reaches 40 (morbid obesity) and only 5 to 8% of obese individuals fall into this category; hardly an epidemic.
The pharmaceutical and weight loss industries are telling us that we have an “obesity epidemic” leading to increased deaths due to heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer, yet the science doesn’t support this. When other factors are entered into the equation, we find that obese people who are active are healthier and live longer than thin people who are sedentary. The diet and pharmaceutical industries fund most of the obesity research so the results are going to be biased towards an “epidemic.” If the “obesity epidemic” is real, they can justify spending on weight loss research, programs and treatments and have these treatments covered by insurance. It’s all about money.
It’s also pretty evident by now that diets don’t work. Americans have been dieting for decades only to end up heavier than before. In fact, dieting has contributed to the so called “obesity epidemic” as most dieters end up with a net weight gain of 10 pounds with each diet tried. Our weight is determined by genetics, what we put in our bodies and the way we live. If we eat healthy foods and maintain an active lifestyle, we will have a healthy weight, but that weight won’t be the same for every person and it won’t correlate with height. One 5’4” woman may be healthy at 160 pounds while another is healthy at 140 and still another at 120. Forcing them to conform to one weight isn’t fair to either one and will most likely damage health. A truly healthy weight is the weight at which our bodies naturally gravitate to without any stress or dieting on our part in the absence of metabolic and hormonal disorders and emotional eating issues. It is a weight at which we can live a joyful, active life where we are able to do all the things God planned for us to do.
Excess weight can be attributed to a poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, emotional issues and/or metabolic and hormonal disorders. What if these things also cause heart disease, cancer and diabetes? We are under the assumption that excess weight causes high blood pressure and chronic disease, but what if weight is just a symptom of something that is out of whack? Something the latest diet or hip exercise routine can’t fix. We have been getting heavier since the 1960s, though weight seems to have leveled off in the 2000s. What has been going on since the 1960s that could affect weight?
In the 1950s, most women stayed home and fixed three square meals a day from scratch using real food. Now, we have microwaves and fast food and any home cooked meals usually come out of a can or box. We are also eating all day long and snacking on processed, fake food. One portion of a restaurant meal today would have fed up to 4 people back in the 50s. Food is more available today than it was back then and we are an “I want it now” society. We don’t want to wait for a fresh, home-cooked meal or deny ourselves any amount of pleasure. Instant gratification is the name of the game. We sit at desks in front of computers, play video games or watch TV instead of riding bikes or taking walks. Even kids don’t get as much recess or physical activity in schools because they have to spend time learning about the food guide pyramid and how to eliminate fat from the diet.
So, is obesity really an epidemic or are we just fat phobic? Clearly, overweight and obesity do not play the huge role in disease we are led to believe, but declaring war on “fat” people boosts the bottom line of the pharmaceutical, diet and healthcare industries while creating more and more “fat” people. I believe we have an unhealthy fear of fat in this country that has contributed significantly to overweight and obesity. We have condemned fat as the villain despite the fact that there is not a shred of scientific evidence to support this view. As we have eliminated fat, particularly saturated fat, from the diet, we have seen an increase in weight, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. “Fat” people are accused of being lazy, gluttonous slobs. In America, prejudice against skin color, religion or sexual orientation is not tolerated, but it is okay to be prejudiced against “fat” people.
The word “fat” scares people, yet fat is the most important nutrient in the diet. Without fat, our hormones don’t function properly, our heart won’t beat, our body temperature won’t be stable, we can’t breath and our brains won’t function properly. We need fat to protect the liver from toxins and to absorb vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Fat satisfies our hunger so we end up eating less and it makes food taste good. Women need fat to bear healthy children and survive menopause and children need fat to grow properly.
The truth is, fat is good, even if you have a little extra fat on your body. We need to embrace fat. Once we do that, the “obesity epidemic” will fade away and we can all live happy, healthy and productive lives.
Body Mass Index became popular in the 1980s but was invented in the mid 1800s by Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgium mathematician, statistician and astronomer. Quetelet decided that he could apply laws governing astronomy to humans to come up with the “average man.” He believed that anyone who deviated from “average man” would be more likely to be criminals, so identifying “average man” would also help identify deviants in society. Quetelet measured and weighed 5000 Scottish soldiers and found that their sizes, when plotted on a graph, produced a bell shaped curve. Those at the top of the curve happened to have weights that were proportional to their height, a mathematician’s delight. Now an equation could be formulated to define this proportional measurement. Since a math equation could be devised, Quetelet concluded that those at the top of the bell curve defined “average man” and “ideal” weight and that is how the Body Mass Index, or Quetelet Index, came into being. The health industry picked it up in the 80s to determine body fatness, even though BMI doesn’t tell us anything about body composition. Many athletes are considered obese based on BMI, but their “excess” weight is due to muscle, not fat. The current BMI numbers are based on 18 year olds where a BMI of less than 25 is considered normal, 25 to 29 is overweight and above 30 is obese, but before 1997, a normal BMI was below 27. Overnight, millions of Americans became overweight without gaining a single pound and it just so happens that about 50% of the population has a BMI of 25. Lowering the normal limit for BMI created a way for health agencies to get funding for obesity research and gave the diet and pharmaceutical industries more people to sell their products to.
The height/weight tables were designed to put more money into the pockets of insurance companies and had nothing to do with health or science and BMI is simply a measurement of proportionate body weight, not body fat and BMI changes as we age, so the 18 year old reference for BMI can hardly be applied to adults. Recent studies have also suggested that different ethnic groups have different “ideal” BMIs. But, so far, no one has been able to link a weight that is proportional to height with health. Both BMI and height/weight tables are arbitrary numbers that have no real meaning when it comes to health and disease. Forcing humans of all ages and ethnicities to conform to an “ideal” or “average” weight is insane and creates far worse problems than obesity. Besides, God did not create any of us to be average. We are all beautifully unique individuals and having a height and weight that doesn’t fit into a mathematical formula doesn’t make us any less desirable than someone who does fit in the formula.
So what does the research tell us about weight? In 2005, Katherine Flegal reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that people with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 (overweight) live longer than people with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 (normal). Older people live longer with higher BMIs and people at both low and high ends of BMI are more likely to die than people in the middle. Death does not correlate with a high BMI until BMI reaches 40 (morbid obesity) and only 5 to 8% of obese individuals fall into this category; hardly an epidemic.
The pharmaceutical and weight loss industries are telling us that we have an “obesity epidemic” leading to increased deaths due to heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer, yet the science doesn’t support this. When other factors are entered into the equation, we find that obese people who are active are healthier and live longer than thin people who are sedentary. The diet and pharmaceutical industries fund most of the obesity research so the results are going to be biased towards an “epidemic.” If the “obesity epidemic” is real, they can justify spending on weight loss research, programs and treatments and have these treatments covered by insurance. It’s all about money.
It’s also pretty evident by now that diets don’t work. Americans have been dieting for decades only to end up heavier than before. In fact, dieting has contributed to the so called “obesity epidemic” as most dieters end up with a net weight gain of 10 pounds with each diet tried. Our weight is determined by genetics, what we put in our bodies and the way we live. If we eat healthy foods and maintain an active lifestyle, we will have a healthy weight, but that weight won’t be the same for every person and it won’t correlate with height. One 5’4” woman may be healthy at 160 pounds while another is healthy at 140 and still another at 120. Forcing them to conform to one weight isn’t fair to either one and will most likely damage health. A truly healthy weight is the weight at which our bodies naturally gravitate to without any stress or dieting on our part in the absence of metabolic and hormonal disorders and emotional eating issues. It is a weight at which we can live a joyful, active life where we are able to do all the things God planned for us to do.
Excess weight can be attributed to a poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, emotional issues and/or metabolic and hormonal disorders. What if these things also cause heart disease, cancer and diabetes? We are under the assumption that excess weight causes high blood pressure and chronic disease, but what if weight is just a symptom of something that is out of whack? Something the latest diet or hip exercise routine can’t fix. We have been getting heavier since the 1960s, though weight seems to have leveled off in the 2000s. What has been going on since the 1960s that could affect weight?
In the 1950s, most women stayed home and fixed three square meals a day from scratch using real food. Now, we have microwaves and fast food and any home cooked meals usually come out of a can or box. We are also eating all day long and snacking on processed, fake food. One portion of a restaurant meal today would have fed up to 4 people back in the 50s. Food is more available today than it was back then and we are an “I want it now” society. We don’t want to wait for a fresh, home-cooked meal or deny ourselves any amount of pleasure. Instant gratification is the name of the game. We sit at desks in front of computers, play video games or watch TV instead of riding bikes or taking walks. Even kids don’t get as much recess or physical activity in schools because they have to spend time learning about the food guide pyramid and how to eliminate fat from the diet.
So, is obesity really an epidemic or are we just fat phobic? Clearly, overweight and obesity do not play the huge role in disease we are led to believe, but declaring war on “fat” people boosts the bottom line of the pharmaceutical, diet and healthcare industries while creating more and more “fat” people. I believe we have an unhealthy fear of fat in this country that has contributed significantly to overweight and obesity. We have condemned fat as the villain despite the fact that there is not a shred of scientific evidence to support this view. As we have eliminated fat, particularly saturated fat, from the diet, we have seen an increase in weight, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. “Fat” people are accused of being lazy, gluttonous slobs. In America, prejudice against skin color, religion or sexual orientation is not tolerated, but it is okay to be prejudiced against “fat” people.
The word “fat” scares people, yet fat is the most important nutrient in the diet. Without fat, our hormones don’t function properly, our heart won’t beat, our body temperature won’t be stable, we can’t breath and our brains won’t function properly. We need fat to protect the liver from toxins and to absorb vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Fat satisfies our hunger so we end up eating less and it makes food taste good. Women need fat to bear healthy children and survive menopause and children need fat to grow properly.
The truth is, fat is good, even if you have a little extra fat on your body. We need to embrace fat. Once we do that, the “obesity epidemic” will fade away and we can all live happy, healthy and productive lives.
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