Ask Science
Ask a science question, get a science answer.
Community Rules
Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.
Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.
Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.
Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.
Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.
Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.
Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.
Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.
Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.
Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.
Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.
Rule 7: Report violations.
Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.
Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.
Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.
Rule 9: Source required for answers.
Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.
By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.
We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.
view the rest of the comments
BMI was never discredited. It's always been intended as a population-level estimate of obesity. There have been a number of studies over the years that have correlated other health outcomes to BMI, but those things are intended to be population-level correlations. For example BMI is correlated with average expected life span, where a BMI in the "healthy" range is correlated with longer average lifespans, and both under or overweight BMIs are correlated with shorter average lifespans. Your specific health situation may vary.
MRI or DXA scans can more accurately determine body fat percentage to determine obesity. Comparing those with BMI has an error rate of around 20% of people being miscategorized as under or overweight.
Bottom line, don't be sedentary all the time, get physical activity and eat a healthy diet instead of getting too hung up on what metrics are best. Progress over perfection.
I like Harvard's Nutrition Source for science-based nutrition info that's easy to read.
Actually, there's a curve where all cause mortality is lowest at BMIs that are slightly overweight, between 25-30 kg/m^2 :
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11051237/
So the traditional "overweight" range appears to be slightly healthier overall than the "healthy" range. Perhaps because some healthy people have higher lean tissue mass (muscle, bone density, etc.).