Why It’s Time To Ditch Body Mass Index (BMI) — keep it simpElle

If you’ve just calculated your BMI and are wondering if this BMI is accurate, then you’ve landed in the right place. If you’re a fellow Fitness Professional and still use BMI with your clients, then you’ve also landed in the right place. In fact, this information needs to be read by… well, everyone.

Recently, in a women’s cycling community on Facebook, the topic of cycling and weight loss came up… again. Someone in the thread suggested the poster hire a Personal Trainer for nutrition advice and how she should use BMI as an indicator as it “is appropriate for >90% of people”.

I couldn’t scroll past, because, as a Personal Trainer, I know that we are not qualified to dish out Nutritional advice and I’m pretty aware how irrelevant and discriminatory BMI usage is. So I comment and said just that only to be told that she “is a medical doctor and both my statements are incorrect”. Apparently “BMI is an accurate measure of your weight status unless you’re a weight lifter or body builder”.

So either I’m overweight, or I’m a weight lifter or body builder.

I was gobsmacked to be honest. Not only could someone be so naive but they felt comfortable throwing around the fact that they work in medicine. Which is quite frankly, frightening. Anyway, I figured I’d let someone…