There is no ideal weight! These are the conclusions reached by American Foz Meadows, a blogger for the Huffington Post. Foz was seriously concerned about the problem of eating disorders among women and decided to bring the inventor of body mass index Adolphe Quetelet to the surface.
Belgian sociologist Adolphe Quetelet developed a formula for the ideal ratio of height and weight back in the XNUMXth century.
To find out if you are obese, it is enough to do simple math calculations. Let’s say you weigh 55 kg with a height of 170 cm.Calculate the index: 55 / (1,70×1,70) = 19,03
Body mass index is 19,03. We check the readings in the table.
- 16 or less – severe underweight
- 16-18,5 – insufficient (deficiency) body weight
- 18,5-25 – normal
- 25-30 – overweight
- 30–35 – obesity of the first degree
- 35-40 – second degree obesity
- 40 or more – third degree obesity
Just like that, by doing one multiplication and division, you learned the whole truth about your weight. So why did the Belgian’s method not please the American blogger?
The first reason Foz advises not to trust the BMI system is that initially this formula was calculated according to male indicators, a separate formula for women was not invented.
Secondly, in 1830-1850, when Quetelet came up with his calculations for the average Europeans, people in Europe did not live so well, and many were malnourished.
Third, for some reason no one takes evolution into account. More than a hundred years ago, people were lower than they are now. And a person’s weight largely depends on his height.
The body mass index formula also does not take into account ethnic and national characteristics and age-related changes. In adolescence, our body is formed, the muscles do not keep pace with the rapid increase in growth, therefore, it is incorrect to evaluate the correct weight by the index. It is also impossible to diagnose obesity in old age. The person becomes lower. His spine is no longer as straight as in his youth, but his bones did not weigh less because of this. Growth when calculating the index will decrease, the weight will remain the same and go beyond the norm, which is fundamentally wrong.
Another error of the system is the inability to take into account the muscle mass of the body. Muscle is denser than fat and weighs more. A bodybuilder will stand on the scales, calculate his body weight by the index and understand that it is time for him to lose weight. A similar story recently happened with bodybuilder Anita Albrecht, who weighs 66 kilograms and is 1,50 centimeters tall. The nurse, after weighing Anita, said that she urgently needed a diet. No more than 1000 kcal per day.
The athlete was offended. Such recommendations are only relevant for severely obese people.
In other words, if you play sports, it is impossible to calculate your correct whole according to the BMI system.
On her blog, Foz posted photos of women of different ages and sizes. Some are tall, some are low, some are fragile, some are dense, and some are athletic. But most importantly, they all weigh 70 kilograms and wear different clothing sizes. One of the girls, with a weight of 70 kg and a height of 182 centimeters, wears the 44th clothing size, the other, with a weight of 70 kg and a height of 176 centimeters, wears the 46th clothing size. That is, your weight and clothing size are not interrelated in any way.
Foz Meadows warns women: “Thin doesn’t mean healthy! Stop adjusting yourself to standards and hating your own body. “
The journalist urges not to follow the lead of the fashion industry, which imposes thinness as a healthy lifestyle, and cites statistics to support the argument. According to the numbers, girls between the ages of 15 and 24 are 12 times more likely to die from anorexia than from anything. 20% of girls with anorexia die from wasting, while the death rate from obesity is 6%. The difference is obvious.