The dangers of relying on BMI

Healthy Girl Branded 'Fat' by the NHS

The parents of a sporty five-year-old girl have received a letter from the National Health Service in the UK saying she is overweight. Lucy's Body Mass Index (BMI) is 17.7, which for an adult would be considered slightly underweight. But officials said that for a young girl, this meant she was 1% outside the healthy category and could be at risk of heart disease and cancer.

The body mass index (BMI) is used to estimate a healthy body weight based on a person's height. More info on Wikipedia.

I've looked at my BMI, even used the nice BMI calculator at the NHS, but it is flawed as it gives my BMI now as 33.1. Obese. OK, I'm still fat, but getting slimmer ;-).

My problem with this tool and the formula used is that for me to get in to the green, I would have to get down to 79 kg (BMI of 24.9). At 80 kg I'll have a BMI of 25.2 and that is considered as overweight and unhealthy.

I'm built like a rugby player - probably because I played rugby for a decade in my youth - with large bones and I doubt that I could get much below 90 kg. The Dukan Diet Ideal Weight Calculator says I'll get to 90 kg. Perhaps the BMI shouldn't be used by the NHS if it is going to be seen as so inaccurate by so many people.