Truth about the Body Mass Index
Dr Mark Porter puts his body mass index, or BMI, to the test. BMI is used to see if someone is too fat, too thin or just right, but how accurate is it?
Dr Mark Porter is a family doctor in the UK and in his 50s. He鈥檚 tall and slim and thinks he鈥檚 fit and healthy 鈥� after all he goes to the gym several times a week. Mark meets experts who measure his weight, height and body fat to find out if he is as healthy as he seems.
He begins by finding out his BMI, or body mass index, a term more and more people are using all over the world. It鈥檚 an indicator of whether he is too fat, too thin or just right. It鈥檚 relatively easy to work out with a calculator 鈥� he divides his weight in kilograms by the square of his height in metres.
Mark compares his BMI against two other ways of measuring body fat, the true test of whether he is overweight or not. Is his BMI as accurate as the results of body fat calculations derived by measuring skin folds and an ultra accurate DEXA scan?
(Photo: Overweight man measuring his waist. Credit: Science Photo Library)
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Dr Mark Porter is a third fat
Duration: 02:15
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- Mon 17 Aug 2015 18:32GMT大象传媒 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Mon 17 Aug 2015 19:32GMT大象传媒 World Service West and Central Africa & East and Southern Africa only
- Mon 17 Aug 2015 23:32GMT大象传媒 World Service
- Tue 18 Aug 2015 02:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Europe and the Middle East & Australasia only
- Tue 18 Aug 2015 04:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Online, UK DAB/Freeview, South Asia & Americas and the Caribbean only
- Tue 18 Aug 2015 05:32GMT大象传媒 World Service East Asia
- Tue 18 Aug 2015 06:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Europe and the Middle East
- Tue 18 Aug 2015 12:32GMT大象传媒 World Service except Americas and the Caribbean & Australasia
- Tue 18 Aug 2015 13:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Australasia
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