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> BMI is trivial to measure conclusively That does not make BMI a good measure.
by worik 2y ago
> BMI is trivial to measure conclusively
That does not make BMI a good measure.
- tptacek 2y agoIt does for some applications, and not for others. In epidemiology you're looking at the number across broad populations, where a lot of the "three dimensions" idiosyncrasies cancel out. You're likely to run into trouble taking literal BMI constants and turning them into individualized patient care instructions, though.
- nottorp 2y agoOr basically: there are outliers, and those tend to complain. But the average billions cancel them out statistically. I'm an outlier myself, and so is anyone who did some serious sports for a significant amount of time. There are other reasons to be an outlier too. But they're not so statistically significant.
- xarope 2y agoditto. Always a bit frustrating when the sadly overweight nurse looks at my height and weight, charts it, and mutters to themselves "borderline". My last visit, at least the doctor deigned to actually eyeball me and said "you look like you are quite active, we can ignore this".
- nottorp 2y agoOh I'm inarguably overweight, but not to the point the BMI would indicate, considering that when i was younger and in top form i was between 29 and 30.
- worik 2y agoYou are saying it is a not dreadful statistical measure. That is doubtful, but possible It is used for individuals. That is where it is harmful
- swatcoder 2y ago> harmful It's hard to conceive of anyone meaningfully "harmed" by being a BMI outlier. The only real occassion it comes up is when some lean and uncommonly athletic person gets miscategorized as obese and get warned of increased risks to their wellness if they don't lose weight. A warning which they generally laugh at because they know their own situation. That's hardly "harm" -- "mild social nuisance" is more apt.
- worik 2y ago> It's hard to conceive of anyone meaningfully "harmed" by being a BMI outlier. "You are fat. You must diet."...."Oh my Dog!! I am fat!!! I will fast"
- hughesjj 2y agoPotentially for health insurance but I get the actuarial argument, especially since higher than typical weight regardless of fat composition puts higher than typical strain on your cardiovascular (and other) systems
- kelipso 2y agoThe harm is that are more likely to get prescribed unnecessary medications. Most people are not confident enough or not knowledgeable enough to wave off what doctors say.