Re:The Average American Man's Body
by yummyfajitas on Sunday October 13, 2013 @05:30AM
(#6541997)
BMI is const x weight/height^2. Volume is proportional to height^3, unless you believe tall people grow in only 2 directions. So BMI ~ height. That's why most of the NBA is obese.
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Do humans grow in 3 dimensions?
Research suggests the power should be slightly less than 2.
e.g. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15761809
Some groups of athletes list overweight because muscle is very dense - BMI doesn't distinguish between muscle and fat.
However, this does not mean that BMI is useless even here - overweight athletes often suffer similar medical conditions as overweight people generally.
Everyone mentions athletes whenever BMI is mentioned.
Most people are not athletes. Most people do very little exercise. When using BMI for an individual you ask them if they do any exercise, but for populations it's fine.
Re:The Average American Man's Body
by yummyfajitas on Sunday October 13, 2013 @06:09AM
(#6542068)
I mention the NBA due to height, not athleticism. BMI is an overestimate for tall people and an underestimate for short people, due to the scaling law I described.