It's been months since I complained about the BMI, so I'm back. 

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Unsportsmanlike BMI Deserves Huge Technical Foul

As we told you last week, the same deeply flawed government standard that classifies millions of Americans as fat also considers 97 percent of pro football players "overweight" or "obese" -- including super-fit athletes like quarterback Donovan McNabb. Now, according to a new analysis, we're told that half of professional basketball players are technically "overweight." Informed that the Body Mass Index (BMI) -- which measures only height and weight -- lists him as obese, NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal threw down this slam-dunk response: "I've read that same formula, but as an athlete, I'm classified as phenomenal. You can look it up."

If you look it up, you'll find that basketball's LeBron James, baseball great Alex Rodriguez, and US swimmer Gary Hall Jr. are all officially "overweight." Technically "obese" stars include the likes of NFL quarterback Steve McNair, baseball slugger Sammy Sosa, and Mike Tyson. It doesn't take someone with the famed eye of Ted Williams to see this standard is flawed.

Of course, leading experts know the BMI is bogus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) admits that the BMI misclassifies many people, noting: "Overweight may or may not be due to increases in body fat. It may also be due to an increase in lean muscle." Even pharmaceutical industry-funded researcher George Bray admitted to the Associated Press: "No one has ever suggested it's the only criterion to use."

Unfortunately, the BMI is the only standard the government relies on, and it is the basis for false claims like 400,000 Americans die every year because of obesity. That's a serious problem. Public debates about obesity in America -- including the possibility of lawsuits against restaurants and food companies for making people fat -- are shaped by this unsporting BMI classification.

I'm guessing that the other 3% are kickers.

Using the BMI to measure obesity in this country makes about as much sense as using someone's salary to determine their race.

So I took a stroll on over to the CDC's website to look for their obesity area.  Sure enough it's under diseases, along with things like Cancer and Epilepsy.  I figured that surely they would acknowledge this huge problem with the BMI, well, I was right.  After digging a little, I found this:

 Are athletes and other people with a lot of muscle considered to be overweight when their BMI is over 25?

According to the weight categories, any person with a BMI over 25 would be classified as overweight. This may not mean they have excess fat. Such categories are based on scientific findings that the risk for disease increases as BMI increases.

Most studies have examined the relationship between BMI and risk of disease. Therefore we do not know whether two people with the same BMI but different amounts of fat have different risks for disease.

It is important to remember that weight is only one factor related to disease. If you have questions or concerns about the appropriateness of your weight, please discuss them with your health care provider.

Am I reading this right?  It's almost as if in their effort to defend the BMI's legitimacy, the CDC is actually insinuating that increased muscle mass is bad for you.  I'm not a nutritionist, but that doesn't seem right. 

So going back to the obesity section, I ventured into "Contributing Factors".  Apart from overeating, working out seems like the next big contributing factor, so I find it curious that the CDC would fail to mention that as a contributing factor. 

The FAQ section pisses me off.  Nowhere to they mention muscle.

 What is the prevalence of overweight and obesity among U.S. adults?

• In 1999–2000, an estimated 30% of U.S adults aged 20 years and older — nearly 59 million people — were obese, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more.
  Source: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2000.
   


• In 1999–2000, an estimated 64% of U.S adults aged 20 years and older were either overweight or obese, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or more.
  Source: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2000.

Walk outside your door and tell me if 2 out of 3 people you see look overweight.  This measurement system is insane.

 Why are so many people overweight or obese today?

There are a number of factors that influence overweight or obesity, including

• Behavior—eating too many calories while not getting enough physical activity.
  
  


• Environment—home, work, school, or community can provide barriers to or opportunities for an active lifestyle.
  
  


• Genetics—heredity plays a large role in determining how susceptible people are to overweight and obesity. Genes also influence how the body burns calories for energy or stores fat.

It can't be that hard to add one more category to this:

Muscle Mass - our system is flawed and doesn't take into account a person's muscle mass and has in turn classified physically fit people like Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mel Gibson as obese.

Remember folks, we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic, and the only way out of it is getting rid of the BMI.