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BMI inaccurate marker for cardiometabolic health
Some U.S. adults are being incorrectly labeled as cardiometabolically unhealthy when using BMI category criteria, according to study findings.
“Many people see obesity as a death sentence,” A. Janet Tomiyama, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a press release. “But the data show there are tens of millions of people who are overweight and obese and are perfectly healthy.”
Tomiyama and colleagues used data from the nationally representative sample of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2012 on 40,420 adults to determine whether cardiometabolic health is incorrectly classified using BMI categories.
“There are healthy people who could be penalized based on a faulty health measure, while the unhealthy people of normal weight will fly under the radar and won’t get charged more for their health insurance,” Tomiyama said in the release. “Employers, policymakers and insurance companies should focus on actual health markers.”
The percentage of healthy vs. unhealthy adults decreased when obesity was involved; however, an estimated 19,761,047 adults with obesity were classified as metabolically healthy. Nearly half of adults with overweight (BMI, 25-29.9 kg/m2), 29% with obesity (BMI, 30-34.9 kg/m2) and 16% with obesity class 2 (BMI, 35-39.9 kg/m2) and class 3 (BMI, 40 kg/m2) were incorrectly identified as cardiometabolically unhealthy when focusing on BMI.
Compared with normal-weight men, normal-weight women were more likely to be metabolically healthy (P < .001). Women with class 2 or class 3 obesity also were more likely to be metabolically healthy compared with men with class 2 or class 3 obesity (P = .034).
“A large proportion of U.S. adults are misclassified as cardiometabolically unhealthy according to BMI categories, indicating that the [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] and other entities should not rely on BMI when formulating health policy,” the researchers wrote. “Moreover, a clinical focus guided by weight and BMI may be misdirected. Future research should study overweight and obese individuals who are cardiometabolically health to understand how individuals can be healthy, no matter their BMI.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Callout: “The [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] and other entities should not rely on BMI when formulating health policy.”