Body fat, not BMI, far more accurate at predicting major health risks: study

Body mass index (BMI) may not be the most accurate predictor of death risk.A new study from the University of Florida found that BMI — a measurement that is commonly used to determine whether a person’s weight is in a healthy range for their height — is “deeply flawed” in terms of predicting mortality.Instead, one’s level of body fat is “far more accurate,” concluded the study, which was published this week in the Annals of Family Medicine.To measure participants’ body fat, the researchers used a method called bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), which uses a device to measure the resistance of body tissue to a small electrical current.Over a 15-year period, those who had high body fat were found to be 78% more likely to die than those who had healthy body fat levels, researchers found.They were also more than three times as likely to die of heart disease, the study noted. BMI — which is calculated by dividing weight by height, squared — was described as “entirely unreliable” in predicting the risk of death over a 15-year period from any cause.The study included 4,252 people in the U.S.and pulled data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.BMI should not be relied upon as a “vital sign” of health, according to senior author Frank Orlando, M.D., medical director of UF Health Family Medicine in Springhill.“I’m a family physician, and on a regular basis, we’re faced with patients who have diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other conditions that are related to obesity,” Orlando said in a press release for the study.“One of the routine measures we take alongside traditional vital signs is BMI.

We use BMI to screen for a person having an issue with their body composition, but it’s not as accurate for everyone as vital signs are,” he added.BMI has been the international standard for measuring obesity since the 1980s, according to many sources, though some experts have questioned its validity.  ...