Why BMI is junk science.
NPR had an interesting article over the weekend about the BMI, or body-mass index. BMI is commonly used as an indicator of fitness, but as the article reveals, it's really "junk science." It's accurate sometimes, but it's often wrong, and it's based on bad math and the formula is rigged to produce the right data. After reading the article, I'm persuaded. Anyone have any arguments in favor of the BMI?
Via reddit.
4 comments:
But, but, but... Wii Fit uses it!
nope. It just makes me feel fat. Really fat.
Let me just say that according to my BMI I am one pound short of what is classified as overweight. I don't feel overweight...
It doesn't really account for the difference between muscle-weight and fat-weight, so I (and my veritable cornicopia of bulging muscles) been happily ignoring it for years.
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