As such, on a population level, BMI can approximate levels of adiposity to a useful degree. However, it is a tool based on large sample sizes and is primarily used as a risk prediction tool over large numbers of people. It is important to understand that BMI does not discriminate between fat mass and lean mass and does not directly address adiposity (i.e., body fat percentage). However, oftentimes these discussions fail to understand exactly what BMI is and how best to utilize it as a tool. Those with a BMI of 30 or higher have reported a roughly 2-fold increase in the risk of stroke (Kurth et al., 2002).īMI is often debated as not being a useful tool. Stroke: Stroke is the fifth leading cause of disease among adults in the United States.Some evidence shows that for every unit increase in BMI, there is a 1-2 mmHg increase in blood pressure (Linderman et al., 2018).

Hypertension: Hypertension, or elevated blood pressure, is one of the leading modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

For example, higher BMI is associated with higher rates of liver and colon cancer (Bhaskaran et al., 2014). However, BMI is linked to some forms of cancer. Cancer: Cancer is a complicated disease with many different factors leading to its cause.In fact, in some studies, those who have a BMI in the “overweight” category carry a roughly 6-fold higher risk of developing diabetes than those with a normal BMI (Sanada et al., 2012). Diabetes: BMI is one of the most robust predictors of developing diabetes.However, it doesn’t require being in the highest category, even those in the “overweight” category carry a 20% higher risk of having a cardiovascular event (Khan et al., 2018). Some studies show that individuals with the highest classification of BMI have a 3-fold higher risk of having a cardiovascular event than those in the normal BMI category. Cardiovascular Disease: As BMI increases the risk of cardiovascular disease also increases.Here is a list of 5 health risks associated with a high BMI. This is especially true when BMI is utilized to predict the risk of chronic diseases and many of the leading causes of death. When we look at human health data, BMI is one of the most effective risk prediction tools we have in modern medicine.

BMI is an incredibly useful tool for risk prediction.

Youth body mass index calculator