Health: Body Mass Index
Unni Greene, Personal Trainer and Nutritionist with SoMi Fitness, explains BMI (Body Mass Index) is not always the correct measurement, because if you are a bodybuilder, an athlete or a muscular person, you will be heavier than the norm and your BMI will be higher.
She explains she uses body composition, which is body fat percentage and recommends using belt size as a measurement, because it is very tangible and waist circumference is an indicator of health; therefore, a man needs to be under 40 inches in waist circumference and a woman should be under 35 inches.
Transcript
So some people talk about BMI I think that’s a better indicator of your overall health third so it’s funny because I have this argument a lot of even with my personal physician because I will go to the doctor and I as you can see I’m not overweight but my BMI is high and why is that because I weigh more than I look because I have a lot of lean mass I have muscle so in terms of BMI being the correct sort of measurement it’s not always because if you are a bodybuilder or a athlete or a muscular person you’re gonna be heavier than the norm and your BMI is gonna be higher so what I use in my office with my clients is body composition okay so like body fat percentage exactly okay so when you do that one of the things that I’ve also been taught is not is to do simpler things like say use your belt size is that something that you recommend or is it yes it’s first of all it’s very tangible yeah you know you you’re on a diet and all of a sudden whoops you know my belt is loose and you feel great but the other thing is that waist circumference is really a indicator of health so a woman we want to be under 35 inches or in a man needs to be under 40 if we climb over those inches we’re looking at health risks that are you know definitely a concern so it’s not a bad idea to to do measurements that way you
