American Medical Association says BMI is racially biased

BOSTON - When you go to your doctor's office, chances are they will calculate your BMI but a prominent medical organization says the simple calculation is racially biased.

The body mass index, or BMI, estimates a patient's body fat using their height and weight and has been used for years to gauge someone's risk for obesity-related health conditions. But the American Medical Association issued new guidelines on how the metric should be used, saying it's an imperfect measure of body fat, was based on historical data from white populations, and doesn't take into consideration a person's body shape, gender, age, race or ethnicity.

For example, even at the same BMI, a Black woman may carry more weight in the hip and thigh area while a white woman may accumulate more weight around the middle, putting her at higher risk for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. 

The organization said BMI should be used in conjunction with other health measures such as a patient's genetics, blood pressure, cholesterol, visceral fat, and waist circumference.

In:
• Health
• Weight Loss

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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