“The body mass index has long been criticized as a flawed indicator of health. A replacement has been gaining support: the body roundness index.” Article unfortunately doesn’t give the freaking formula for chrissakes; it’s “364.2 − 365.5 × √(1 − [waist circumference in centimeters / 2π]2 / [0.5 × height in centimeters]2), according to the formula developed by Thomas et al.10”

  • deafboy@lemmy.world
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    56 minutes ago

    It is one of the most widely used health metrics but also one of the most reviled, because it is used to label people overweight, obese or extremely obese.

    That’s like blaming the ruler for labeling you too short or too tall… Can’t we just use the tool for rough assessment, while being aware of its limitations, and be happy about it?

    • Aatube@kbin.melroy.orgOP
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      45 minutes ago

      it’s easy to calculate but extremely rough. Efficacy varies immensely. Look, nobody’s forcing you to do anything, I’m just saying that BMI is way too rough to be seriously examined.

  • sik0fewl@lemmy.ca
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    10 hours ago

    BMI is the best measure we have for statistical purposes (i.e., a population) because it’s been around for 50(?) years and is what is often used in studies, so you can compare one study to another using BMI.

    It’s also not terrible for a population because it averages out. But for an individual it is definitely not a good measure because there are way too many other variables that matter.

    • MissJinx@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      I think there is a better one, it’s called a mirror. I look at it every day and cry, but there is no question lol

    • jetA
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      10 hours ago

      100% this, plus it’s very easy to measure.

      For individuals the tg/HDL ratio is promising as a great marker for insulin resistance (lower is better). But it requires a blood test, for academic purposes it’s also good because most checkup blood tests have these two markers recorded.

      • sik0fewl@lemmy.ca
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        10 hours ago

        Yes! Thanks, I had started to mention that and ended up with a huge run on sentence and it didn’t make it through the editing process. 😅.

    • Mojave@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      This is giving me body fat percentages that are around double what I get from other methods. Not sure what’s up, but I don’t really believe my 5’8" 150lb ass is 30% body fat

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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      4 hours ago

      Height selection on metric side has jumps of up to 3 centimeters lmao. Makes me doubtful about the accuracy since I’ve never before seen that

      I’m also pretty skinny and it says my BMI and body fat is great but that I’m too round. I don’t even have belly and it is showing me as quite rotund lol. I think there’s something fucky going on with my measurements or about inputting metric into the calculator.

      E: Tried it again and now I’m out of healthy zone for being too lean. Hmm. I’m not sure if I measured wrong or they’re saying I should have a bit of a belly. Which is the sort of medical advice I actually want lol

      • RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works
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        3 hours ago

        Height selection on metric side has jumps of up to 3 centimeters lmao.

        Too lazy to look, but given 1 inch = 2.54 cm, my guess is the tool is written in inches, and just rounds those values to the nearest whole cm, thus alternating between 2 & 3 cm increments.

        • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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          2 hours ago

          Don’t Americans deal with differences smaller than 1 inch when it comes to height, is it just 2 footies 7 incherinos? I’m so used to it being per cm.

          Tbh I’ve never before seen a dropdown selector for height before either. It’s always just fill in thing.

            • Clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works
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              1 hour ago

              Partial inches are only used by people insecure about their height. “I’m 5’7.25” “, naw bud, you’re 5’7”.

              • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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                55 minutes ago

                I was thinking that this was a bit like with age. Someone telling you online that they’re “25 and a half”, yeah I bet you are lol.

                But to me 3cm difference especially in this sort of calculations just seems surprisingly big.

                • Clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works
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                  31 minutes ago

                  In imperial, it’s in one-inch increments, which is typical. Must have been written in inches and translated for the rest of the world.

    • Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      Hmm, that puts me at BRI of 2.1, and BMI of 35.4

      Those both seem incredibly off.

      But I do have extra dense bones apparently, which tends to be mostly what screws with my BMI, and my ability to float/swim. But they seem really hard to break, not that I try very hard… but none of them have broken yet. And I’ve been in situations that seem like they should have broken.

      Either way, I weigh alot more than I look like I should, not quite “Wolverine getting on a motorbike”, but a bit like that.

      Kinda makes me wish those “guess your weight” carnival experts were something I could see in real life, only ever seen it on TV.

  • usualsuspect191@lemmy.ca
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    10 hours ago

    Interesting. Found a calculator and according to this I’m “very lean” (only just) while I’m overweight (again, only just) using BMI.

    Judging by the belly fat I can pinch, I’m gonna trust the BMI

    • AndyMFK@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 hour ago

      This is fascinating because I got a BRI of 1.9 and it’s saying I’m in the healthy zone. So I don’t really know what to believe here

      • Chee_Koala@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        How round one wants to be is easily influenced by external factors like culture, though. I think slim bodies look sleek and beautiful, but it’s probably healthier to have a bit of fat in the right places (for times when your digestive system is on the fritz)

        I like the effort for a body weight stat being more complete or useful for individuals, but my efforts measuring BRI came up kind of wack too :(. We decided it judged me too thin.