lingering use of BMI to measure obesity

The Wall Street Journal (1/12) reported that some scientists disagree with last week’s report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the University of Ottawa that used Body Mass Index to measure their likelihood of dying. Researchers refute using BMI as the typical way to define obesity, claiming that it averages together too many factors instead of focusing on unhealthy abdominal fat. Researchers also point to how many are misclassified as overweight by the BMI index.  Comment: while I agree with these comments the problem is one of having a case definition that everyone can agree with.  For many research projects, particularly meta-analyses that is the problem of comparing apples and oranges.  This may be one of the reasons why tackling obesity has been so difficult.  Those who dislike the BMI because it includes too many variables that change with age and genetics have the responsibility to find a better case definition.

Source: Dr. Buttery's Public Health BLOG - January 19, 2013 Category: Epidemiologists Authors: cbuttery Tags: behavioral change Chronic Disease Community Health epidemiology policy Prevention Translational Research Source Type: blogs