Is BMI meaningless, especially for kids?
This post may contain affiliate links and/or codes. You won't pay anything extra, but I might make a commission.
I was quoted this morning in a piece on ABCNews.com about tracking kids' health through the use of BMI. An adult's BMI is calculated using height and weight, and that number puts you in the underweight, normal, overweight, or obese category. It doesn't take into account muscle mass, cholesterol, blood pressure, sugar levels, activity levels, waist size, or any other indicator of health and fitness.
And when you start talking about BMI for kids, it gets more complicated, because a BMI that's considered OK for a ten-year-old is obese for a seven-year-old. I don't think using BMI to track kids' health is a good idea at all. (However, unlike most of the commenters on the ABC piece, I don't think trying to improve kids' health is a commie-liberal-big brother idea either - those commenters get paranoid and nutty pretty fast.)
Whether a kid is healthy or not is complicated. My son was in the top 5% on the BMI charts for a seven-year-old when he was seven, which is what triggered the note home. The problem is that the kids' charts compare kids by age. My son was towering over the other kids in his class, so the comparison was completely out of whack. The charts allow for the fact the older kids are supposed to have a higher BMI, but not for kids who are very tall for their age.
It's just one of those things where a number or a label without information is useless. I knew the assessment was ridiculous, but had to actually look up the info and explain the BMI-by-age concept to my husband to talk him down after he saw the letter. He's not a stupid guy. He's actually quite smart, smarter than me in many ways. But the government told him his son was obese and he took them at their word. That's a problem on many levels.
What's the answer? I have no clue. I'm lucky that I have one kid who chooses to eat like a health nut and another who is active enough that he burns off the huge amount of carbs that he consumes. If one of them had a health problem I would expect my doctor to talk to me about it. He's got all of my kids' information right there in front of him, and even more important, he's got my kids right in front of him.
Does he need the government's guidance when talking to me about my kids' weights? I don't think so, but if they're going to tell him anything, I'd rather it be something useful, like whether or not my kids can run and play with their classmates and how they do on fitness tests. What their blood tests should look like. And yes, whether their measurements are in a safe range, based on many factors. Using one number to target kids will include kids who don't need the intervention and exclude kids who actually need the help.
applying adult weight and shape standards to children is a recipe for disaster because it can't take into account their stage of development and, as you point put in your blog, the wonderful diversity of shapes and sizes. i worry that kids are not getting the nutrition they need to grow and thrive out of fears more properly placed upon adults. the way the dad reacted, he might have put Jake on a diet! it is a myth that today's children might have a shorter lifespan--there is zero evidence that that is happening--but in my opinion the only thing that could cause that is adopting unhealthy "healthy lifestyles".
@Sarah - I know, they're trying to find an easy way to target the at risk kids but there just isn't one. I mean, truly obese kids are like porn, you know it when you see it. But God forbid the assessment would be made based on common sense - the school would get sued in five minutes.
I have to say I agree. My 6 year old daughter would be considered obese. What these charts fail to recognize is that she is far off the growth charts in both height and weight and has been since she was 2 months old. She currently weighs around 68 pounds and is over 50 inches tall. She also is a competitive athlete and is all muscle. At her check-up last week her doctor commented on her muscle definition and how low her resting heart-rate was. All signs of a very healthy child, yet according to this she isn't. They need to stop trying to shove everyone into a cookie-cutter image.
@Toni - The funny thing is, I saw the number and said "What's wrong with the system?" while my husband saw the number and said "What's wrong with us?" I wonder what a psychologist would do with THAT!
Yes -- goes without saying in my mind, so I forgot to say it here -- I've known Jake his entire life, and in no way, shape or form is he, or has he ever been, obese. I wouldn't even call him overweight. He's got a big frame, big shoulders, but he's fit and active. So there's definitely something wrong with that system.
Toni´s last blog ..iPad may go on sale March 26th — getting ready for iBooks
@Toni - And I agree with you 10,000%. I think energy should be put elsewhere. But IF they're going to try to target the kids most at risk, well, you know Jake personally. I'm sure you'd agree that based on body size, if he's being targeted then it's just a bad system. But yeah, focus on other things. It's not like the parents are sitting around waiting for someone to tell them their kid is fat. And if they are, well, they've got bigger issues.
You know I agree with you on this issue 1000%. Anecdotally, it seems to me some health professionals might too. I had a conversation with my doctor not two weeks about about how the BMI chart's "target weight" for me was, in her words, unrealistic for my body frame. It's just too cookie-cutter.
Having said that, what REALLY bothers me about this anti-obesity fad that's going on is that it reminds me too much of "No Child Left Behind" -- all talk and no steps being taken. Kids are fat. Adults are fat. Let's point that out to them, because surely they haven't realized it yet! But we won't propose anything substantial to change things. Healthier school lunches, gym class that focuses more on aerobic and cardio exercise (instead of peer-pressure-laden team sports). Tax deductible gym memberships or fitness equipment. Working to make healthy food more affordable, as opposed to more expensive than bad-for-you fast food. I wasn't elected to run the school/town/country/galaxy, but if I had been, that's what I'd focus on.
Toni´s last blog ..iPad may go on sale March 26th — getting ready for iBooks
Thank you! My daughter is 3.5 and the same height if not taller than her 5 year old cousin (who may or may not been underweight). She weighs more than her cousin too an people are always making comments about her weight. They look at me and my husband- who are overweight and ASSUME that my daughter is as well. However, my daughter is actually fine. She has been in the top 5% since she was 6 months old even though she was only 5 lbs 15 ounces at birth (36 weeks) and breastfed. She is a veggie, fruit junkie and calls carrot sticks dessert. Am I worried about her weight? Only so far as worrying that I set a good example. My husband and I have made definite and specific changes to our lifestyle to ensure that we set a healthy example.
My doctor is not worried about her weight either. he admits that she is very tall (I am 5'8"; hubby is 6'; and my father was 6'7") and she is solid- very muscular build. In fact at merely a year old she was able to drag a 12 pack of canned soda across the living room. In my pediatrician's words, she is "physically and nutritionally fit. That is what matters."
Kristina Brooke´s last blog ..Happy Birthday Nicola
I have to say I think your points on this issue are so dead on! I mean your son is exercising regularly and having met him in person and seeing his picture he looks like a sweet, healthy boy- I wouldn’t even consider him chubby let alone FAT. I agree these standard measurements- applied across the board are ridiculous since all of us are different- we’re not cookie cutter versions of one another- so how can we all possibly be measured by the exact same standard.