The strange history of the body mass index

The body mass index, or BMI, is the formula that's used most often to diagnose overweight and obesity. But unlike other common diagnoses, there is a certain stigma applied to people with a high body mass index, or BMI, which can affect how they are perceived by peers, providers, and society at large. Despite the ubiquity of the BMI in medicine, many argue that it is a flawed tool, with a strange history. In recent months, the BMI has become more relevant than ever as the new semaglutide weight loss drugs are poised to change how obesity is understood and treated. BMI is a simple calculation — a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height. But how BMI is then translated into a diagnosis is complicated and flawed. Watch this video to learn more about the history of the BMI — how it became so entrenched in medicine and, surprisingly, how its introduction may have set back decades of work on how obesity contributes to disease. A STAT series is examining new obesity drugs that are transforming patients’ lives, dividing medical experts, and spurring one of the biggest business battles in years. Read more about The Obesity Revolution here: https://www.statnews.com/category/the.... More from STAT: Become a subscriber: https://www.statnews.com/stat-plus/ Watch Full Episodes:    / @statnews   Newsletters: https://www.statnews.com/signup/ STAT events: https://www.statnews.com/stat-events/ Facebook:   / statnews   Twitter:   / statnews   Instagram:   / statnews   Flipboard: rb.gy/3xnsxr STAT Reports: https://rb.gy/rexfwj STAT eBooks: https://rb.gy/eme3h5 ABOUT STAT: Founded in 2015, STAT is a global digital media brand that focuses on delivering fast, deep, and tough-minded journalism about the life sciences industries to over six million monthly site visitors and an additional 20 million readers on the Apple News app. STAT takes you inside academic labs, biotech boardrooms, and political backrooms, casting a critical eye on scientific discoveries, scrutinizing corporate strategies, and chronicling the roiling battles for talent, money, and market share. With an award-winning newsroom, STAT provides indispensable insights and exclusive stories on the technologies, personalities, power brokers, and political forces driving massive changes in the life sciences industry — and a revolution in human health.