BMI Criticized as Inadequate Measure of Health

Alternative Methods, Including DEXA Scans, Recommended for More Accurate Health Risk Assessments

BMI, or Body Mass Index, has been widely criticized for its inability to distinguish between muscle and fat, and for its lack of accuracy in assessing health risks for non-white populations.
The American Medical Association recently declared BMI an 'imperfect measure' of health and advised against its sole use for determining insurance reimbursements.
Alternative methods for assessing health risks associated with body composition, such as waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and bioelectrical impedance analysis, are being recommended.
DEXA scans, which use X-ray images to determine the distribution of muscle, fat, and bone in the body, are increasingly preferred by doctors and scientists for assessing health risks.
Despite its flaws, BMI is still considered useful for large-scale population health risk assessments, but not for individual health evaluations.