What happens if the BMI index says you're overweight for your height but you just have a lot of muscle? Doesn't this mean this index is not positively correct?

billythebrit

You normally have to input your build into any machine that reads you BMI: slim, athletic, muscled, etc. At least that's what the machines I have used allow you to do. But you're right. Quote - The medical establishment has generally acknowledged some shortcomings of BMI. Because the BMI is dependent only upon net weight and height, it makes simplistic assumptions about distribution of muscle and bone mass, and thus may overestimate adiposity on those with more lean body mass (e.g. athletes) while underestimating adiposity on those with less lean body mass (e.g. the elderly). In fact, some argue that the error in the BMI is significant and so pervasive that it is not generally useful in evaluation of health. Due to these limitations, body composition for athletes is often better calculated using measures of body fat, as determined by such techniques as skinfold measurements or underwater weighing. However, recent studies of American football linemen, who undergo intensive weight training to make their muscles extremely large, show that they frequently suffer many of the same problems as people ordinarily considered obese, notably sleep apnea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index Mar 05 08, 5:45 AM