Calculating your BMI, or Body Mass Index, is a valuable way to estimate your body fat percentage. It’s used widely in the medical field to assess potential health risks associated with weight. Understanding how accurate this tool is can provide insights into its reliability and how it impacts health insurance evaluations.
To calculate my body mass index (BMI), divide weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. When measuring in centimetres, divide by 100 to convert to metres.
How accurate is the BMI index?
Let’s understand the factors affecting the accuracy of the BMI index:
BMI doesn’t account for body fat distribution or distinguish between muscle and fat weight.
- Limitations in Health Assessment
It might not accurately reflect the risk of certain conditions, especially concerning fat distribution and family history of hypertension, diabetes, cardiac ailments, average lifespan/longevity, carcinoma, and dyslipidaemia/high cholesterol.
- Discrepancies in Specific Groups
Athletes, children, teenagers, pregnant individuals, and senior citizens aged over 65 might receive inaccurate BMI assessments.
- Same chart for men & women
Although AFAB (i.e., Assigned Female At Birth) weighs more than AMAB (i.e., Assigned Male At Birth), healthcare professionals use the same chart to calculate the BMI for adult men and women.
Conclusion
While BMI is a helpful tool for estimating body fat and assessing potential health risks, its accuracy has limitations. The BMI calculation can be pivotal in evaluating health insurance, but it’s crucial to acknowledge its limitations and consider other factors for a comprehensive health assessment. You can use the health insurance calculator to find a suitable plan according to your budget.