Whether you’re finally getting to your annual physical with your primary care physician or seeing a specialist, you’ve likely learned where you fall on the body mass index (BMI), a calculated measurement of weight relative to height. But some researchers are paving the way for another measurement to join the conversation in assessing a person’s health risks.
What Is Body Roundness Index?
A recent study published in JAMA Open Network makes the argument that a newer tool – body roundness index (BRI) – may be more effective at measuring a person’s health. Whereas BMI is determined using one’s height and weight only, BRI also includes an individual’s waist circumference (or roundness) in the calculation. The result is a clearer picture of how body fat is distributed: The more fat in the middle of your body, the more at-risk you are for some health conditions.
“Visceral fat protects organs, but too much can lead to health problems. Excess fat can also lead to chronic inflammation which is also linked to many diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, and cancer,” said Geralyn Plomitallo, registered dietitian and clinical nutrition manager at Stamford Health.
How Can I Calculate My BRI?
Introduced in 2013, the equation for BRI is complicated. It considers your heigh and weight, similar to BMI, but also your waist and hip measurements.
A healthy BRI generally falls below 10 on the scale of 1 – 20. The higher the score, the rounder the body and the more at risk the person is for diseases and obesity.
If you have a measuring tape handy, you can get an idea of where you fall on the BRI scale. “Your waist measurement should be no more than 35 inches for women and no more than 40 inches for men,” said Plomitallo.
Or, in more simpler terms, you can guesstimate by looking at your body shape. “Apple shape typically means you have more fat around the middle,” said Plomitallo. “With a pear shape, the fat is higher around the hips and less in the middle.”
Is BRI Better Than BMI?
BMI, while a helpful gauge of risk of disease, has long been criticized as incomplete or even misleading. “It just uses your height and weight and could overestimate body fat in athletes,” explained Plomitallo. “If using the BMI alone, Arnold Schwarzenegger would be considered obese.” A person who has a lower body weight, but no muscle mass would fall into the healthy BMI zone but could still be at high risk for diseases.
Source : https://www.stamfordhealth.org/healthflash-blog/primary-care/bmi-versus-bri/