BMI was originally developed by _dietitians_, aka people who make money when "overweight" people want to lose weight. Their profession incentivized the developers of the BMI scale to bias it towards "average" being _less than average_. This would be all well and good if "average" actually meant _"healthy"_, but you are, in fact, **much more likely to die** if you come in just under the "healthy weight" range than if you do if you're in the first part of the "obese" range. > [!warning] Obese is better than Underweight # Ranges - **Underweight:** BMI is less than 18.5 - **Normal weight:** BMI is 18.5 to 24.9 - **Overweight:** BMI is 25 to 29.9 - **Obese:** BMI is 30 or more ![[IMG_1082.png]] BMI is measured in [[SI Units]] - Kg/M^2. Weird. Actually not weird, that's exactly how it's calculated: $\text{BMI} = \frac{\text{weight in kilograms}}{(\text{height in meters})^2}$ So, for me, right now that's: $\text{BMI} = \frac{101.6 kg}{2.045 m^2} = 24.3$ I'm "healthy" now. According to their logic, if I gain 5 more pounds I'll be "at risk", but if I lost **50 pounds** I'd still be "healthy". **** ## Source - [[Burnout]] - ChatGPT for the LaTeX code, nice. - [Cancer.org](https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/diet-physical-activity/body-weight-and-cancer-risk/adult-bmi.html) ## Related - [[Healthspan vs Lifespan]]