What is Body Mass Index (BMI)?
Learn About BMI!
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a height-to-weight ratio that is used to tell if someone is overweight or obese. All overweight adults should ask their doctor about getting checked for pre-diabetes or diabetes because diabetes, like high blood pressure, usually begins without symptoms. A blood sugar test is needed to tell if someone has the condition. However, when considering whether or not BMI is an accurate measurement, there are several disadvantages to using the calculation to determine obesity. BMI does not consider how much muscle mass you have, how big your bones are and how wide your frame is.
An individual who is Asian might have a lower BMI because they have smaller bones and less muscle mass, but could still have high amounts of body fat.
The standard BMI scale does not take into consideration the differences of Asian American bodies and is sometimes inaccurate. It is possible that an Asian individual can have a normal BMI but is actually still at risk of being overweight or obese. Researchers suggest Asian Americans who have a BMI of 23 or higher should get their blood work done to check and see if they are at risk of developing diabetes.
