A study has recently been conducted at the University of California, who analysed the link between BMI (body mass index – weight in kilograms divided by height) and heart health, using data provided by NHANES.
NHANES is the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of USA, which tabulates health data across the nation. According to the study, the BMI method misclassifies approximately 75 million Americans as either healthy or unhealthy.
The survey found that more than 2 million US citizens whose BMI is 35 or higher, are automatically classified as unhealthy, whereas all their cardiometabolic data pertaining to glucose, blood pressure, insulin resistance, triglycerides, C-reactive protein, cholesterol and glucose were found to be normal.
At the same time, the study found that more than 30 percent of Americans with good BMI were actually unhealthy.
According to Jeffrey Hunger, who has co-authored the report along with Janet Tomiyama, “…this should be the final nail in the coffin for BMI.”
