Two studies cast further doubt on the effectiveness of the BMI as a measure of health

Dr. John Briffa writes in his e-newsletter:

Previously I have written about the evidence which shows that the body mass index (BMI) is pretty useless for assessing health status. Problems here include the fact that it takes no account of the body's composition, nor where any excess fat may be distributed in the body. This week saw the publication of two studies which cast further doubt on the usefullness of the BMI. One of these found that significant numbers of people with BMIs in the "overweight" and "obese" categories were "metabolically healthy" as adjuged by measures such as blood pressure and blood fat levels. The other one also found that being "obese" is not necessarily a sign that all is not well within the body. This evidence provides further support for the notion that being "overweight" or "obese" is not necessarily a bad thing. For more on these studies, click this link.