Weight is an eternally-pressing topic, but conversations around GLP-1s and other weight loss drugs have brought it to the forefront even more.
Body mass index (BMI) is the tool doctors use to calculate whether someone is underweight, at a healthy weight, overweight or obese. But because BMI calculations can’t tell the difference between body fat, muscle and bone mass, it’s not always the best way to actually tell if a patient is healthy, many medical experts argue.
“We know that muscle weighs more than fat, so their weight may not be a good indicator of how much fat they have in their body,” says Dr. Jennifer Brull, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “Patients who suffer from being overweight or obese can face stigma. Focusing too much on weight rather than taking a more holistic approach can be detrimental to the care of all patients. Addressing these health risks require a customized, sensitive approach from a family physician.”
“A BMI that is low could mean a person doesn’t have enough body fat. A high BMI could mean that they have too much body fat,” Brull says, though she notes that “every body is different and BMI isn’t one-size-fits-all.”
Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these are the BMI categories for adults 20 and older:
How to lose weight
Health experts stress that tactics to lose large amounts of weight quickly are either inaccurate or unsustainable.
“There’s not a magical food or drink that can help you lose body fat,” dietitian Caroline Thomason previously told USA TODAY. “Unfortunately, the boring basics still work for weight loss: Diet and exercise are the two most important factors you can change to lose weight.”
For those looking to lose weight, Thomason recommends starting with the following daily lifestyle tweaks:
- Exercise. Walking, strength training a few times a week and increasing cardio to 150 minutes per week.
- Diet. Emphasizing “protein, increasing your fruits and vegetables, swapping refined grains for whole grains and incorporating healthy fat into your diet.”
- Tracking food “to get a better idea of calories you’re taking in per day.” While some experts are wary that focusing too much on tracking daily calories can lead to disordered eating, Thomason notes that it can also be beneficial in creating a baseline “awareness of your eating habits and clearly help you see where you can make changes for weight loss.”
