An American researcher offers another method than calculating the body mass index to determine a person’s general state of health.
- Physician Barbara Bawer says the body mass index (BMI), which helps diagnose overweight or obesity, is not an ideal measure for determining a person’s health.
- “One person may have a normal BMI but not be healthy, another may have a higher BMI and actually be in good general health.”
- The American researcher instead offers a self-administered test made up of questions on cognitive abilities, level of physical activity, health of the digestive system, efficiency of the immune system, quality of sleep, etc.
Body mass index (BMI), which helps diagnose overweight or obesity, has been used for decades by doctors to determine a person’s health status. Calculated by dividing your weight by your height squared, health authorities set the ideal figure between 18.5 and 25, with a high range at 23, according to a recent study.
However, this figure is “far from being a perfect measure” to estimate health, says Barbara Bawer, doctor and professor at the School of Medicine at Ohio State University, in the United States.
You can have a normal BMI but not be healthy
In a communicatedshe recalls that the BMI “is just an assessment of a person’s mass for their height, and that other factors play into overall health, such as genetics.” Ultimately, “one person may have a normal BMI but not be healthy, another may have a higher BMI and actually be in good overall health.”
For a more in-depth, more revealing examination, Barbara Bawer suggests a self-administered test designed to take a head-to-toe inventory. A series of questions gathered under the acronym BASICS, to:
Brain (brain in English): How strong is your cognitive health? Do you have trouble remembering important appointments or dates? Do you often lose things? Your SAGE test score [un auto-questionnaire qui peut détecter les signes précoces de démence] has it changed in the last year?
Activity : How active are you? Do you spend at least 150 minutes per week on moderate-intensity exercise? Do you feel pain when you do physical activity? Do you sit more than 8 hours a day?
Stomach (stomach): How healthy is your digestive system? Do you have indigestion, stomach aches, bloating? Are your bowel movements regular? Abnormal? Have you experienced unexplained weight gain/loss?
Immunity : Do you get sick often or have frequent infections? Do you take longer than others to recover from illness? Have you received vaccination recommendations?
Controls : Do you notice any health problems? Have you had an annual exam with your doctor?
Sleep (sleep): Do you sleep 7 to 9 hours each night? Are you tired during the day? Do you often need a nap to get through the day?
Spot any warning signs to better prevent disease
By answering these questions regularly, you can easily spot any red flags and identify any changes in your health, according to Dr. Bawer. “If you let small health issues go by, if you think, ‘Oh, it’s nothing,’ they tend to develop into bigger problems over time. Whereas, if you talk to your doctor about them, , we can treat the problem immediately and prevent possible complications.”
