Health Risks: Why You Shouldn’t Rely on Your Body Mass Index! Family Health Men's Health Women's Health

People come in all shapes and sizes, yet doctors have been taught to measure them all the same way. Yes, we speak of the infamous BMI, or body mass index. But people of different ethnicities distribute fat differently. For example, a South Asian woman with a normal BMI might actually have a dangerously high level of visceral fat (wrapped around the abdominal organs), increasing her risk for heart disease. Without measuring her waist circumference, her doctor might end her physical with "you're fine, see you in a year." Thankfully, some doctors are now turning to other means of assessing a person's health risks from weight, such as:

• observing how their clothes fit
• how damaged their joints are from supporting excess weight 
• measuring waist circumference

Enjoy Your Healthy Life!

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