Posts Tagged BMI

Why BMI is bogus

I sure am glad we’ve got a news organization like NPR in this country (ahem, hear that Congress?). NPR’s “math guy” Keith Devlin went on Weekend Edition Saturday to completely rip the body mass index, or BMI, a measure used in the U.S. to tell people they’re fat and unhealthy and should generally feel bad about themselves (what, that last part’s not what BMI’s supposed to be doing? Because I see a hell of a lot more fat shaming than anything else).

Devlin’s put together an amusing and enlightening list of 10 reasons why the BMI is bad science and bad policy. A little taste:

8. It makes the more cynical members of society suspect that the medical ...

I sure am glad we’ve got a news organization like NPR in this country (ahem, hear that Congress?). NPR’s “math guy” Keith Devlin went on Weekend Edition Saturday to completely rip the body mass ...