BMI Question...

My niece went for a shot today that she needed for camp. The doctor seems to think that her BMI is out of whack.

She is 8 1/2, 70 lbs, 4'10. She isn't overweight by any means but she has a belly and a butt.

My mom was saying he wants to check her for diabetes, blood pressure, lead paint poisoning???(which I don't even think existed post 2001 when she was born!).

Do you guys have any idea where he might be going with this?

Re: BMI Question...

Blood pressure only takes a few seconds, and is non-invasive, so that I wouldn't mind, no matter what.
I really don't like the BMI craze that is going on lately. People are looking at a chart that is supposed to cover 7 billion people, without variation...
BMI charts are only a guideline, and there needs to be a lot more put into an analysis than what a simple chart says. If I was to be in my "healthy" BMI range, I would be sickly. I am muscular, which throws those charts out the window.
I also don't like it when people put kids on diets, or stress them about their weight when it isn't necessary. Many kids gain weight just before a growth spurt, and keeping their weight low all the time could put them in an unhealthy spot.
There's a lot more to a diagnosis of diabetes than being a little heavy.... actually, pre-diagnosed diabetics LOSE weight, since the body can't process the sugar in the blood, so it's almost like not eating.

Re: BMI Question...

BMI in children is different. You should really use the growth charts for children under 20. If you were using the same BMI formula/growth chart for your niece her BMI would be 14.6 which would be classified as healthy (for children).

Although not pefect the BMI is a fairly good indicator of health status in most people (not olympic athletes b/c of their muscle mass, and the elderly).

It really isn't a "craze" more of a standard of practice in the nutrition/medical field.

Message edited 6/25/2010 5:10:26 PM.