The BMI (Body Mass Index) is a tool used to measure an individual's body fat by dividing his weight in kilogrammes by the square of his height in metres. It is simply an economical way of determining weight categories such as underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and obesity. Although BMI does not directly measure body fat, it is marginally associated with more direct measures. Additionally, BMI seems to be just as closely linked to many metabolic and illness outcomes as these more direct measures of mass of the body. Let us explore the history of BMI and what BMI is obese?

History  
Between 1830 and 1850, Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgian astronomer, mathematician, statistician, and sociologist, constructed what he dubbed "social physics" and devised the BMI's foundation. Ancel Keys and colleagues invented the term "body mass index" (BMI) to describe the ratio of human body weight to squared height in a paper that was published in the year 1972. In this work, Keys maintained that the Body Mass Index was "at least as good as any other relative weight index as a predictor of relative obesity, if not totally satisfactory.”

The desire for a body fat index arose in response to rising obesity rates in developed Western societies. BMI, according to Keys, is appropriate for population studies but not for individual evaluation. Despite this, it has become frequently utilised for preliminary diagnostics due to its simplicity. Other measurements, like waist circumference, may be more useful. BMI is a basic numeric measure of an individual's thinner/thickness that allows health practitioners to address weight issues with their patients more objectively. BMI was created as a simple way to categorise average sedentary individuals with similar physical characteristics.  

Since children and teenagers are constantly developing, BMI is only for adults. This makes having defined values for BMI cut-offs for the younger population difficult. Higher value of Body Mass Index is mainly caused by an increase in body fat among individuals who are not likely to grow anymore.
The BMI is commonly used to determine how far a person's body weight deviates from what is considered normal or acceptable for their height. Body fat (adipose tissue) may account for some of the weight surplus or deficiency, but other characteristics such as muscularity also have a substantial impact on BMI.

Scale indications and drawbacks

As of 2014, the following are value recommendations for individuals:
•    Underweight: less than 18.5
•    Optimal weight:18.5-24.9 kg/m2
•    Overweight: 25-29.9
•    Obesity: more than 30

BMI is a comparatively less reliable to its other methods employed to measure body fat, despite its widespread use. The scale is increasingly being scrutinized as an increasing number of people are classified as overweight or obese, putting them in high-risk groups. Since BMI doesn't distinguish between muscle and fat, because of their high muscle-to-fat ratio, lean men athletes often have a BMI that is misleadingly high in comparison to their body-fat proportion. BMI doesn't always accurately forecast when weight could contribute to health problems. Therefore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urge doctors not to use BMI as a diagnostic tool.

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What BMI is obese?