{"id":129579,"date":"2023-06-20T09:20:07","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T13:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=129579"},"modified":"2023-06-20T09:20:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T13:20:07","slug":"major-medical-group-declares-body-mass-index-racist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/major-medical-group-declares-body-mass-index-racist\/","title":{"rendered":"Major medical group declares Body Mass Index ‘racist’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018[The] AMA recognizes issues with using BMI as a measurement due to its historical harm\u2019 and \u2018its use for racist exclusion\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A national medical group declared that the Body Mass Index is \u201cracist\u201d and medical professionals should be educated on its dark history.<\/p>\n

\u201cDelegates at the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates adopted [a] policy aimed at clarifying how body mass index (BMI) can be used as a measure in medicine,\u201d the group announced.<\/p>\n

A council within the AMA researched the \u201cproblematic history with BMI.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe report also outlined the harms and benefits of using BMI and pointed to BMI as an imperfect way to measure body fat in multiple groups given that it does not account for differences across race\/ethnic groups, sexes, genders, and age-span, the AMA stated. It did not link to a copy of the report. \u201cGiven the report\u2019s findings, the new policy supports AMA in educating physicians on the issues with BMI and alternative measures for diagnosing obesity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group announced<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Under the newly adopted policy, the AMA recognizes issues with using BMI as a measurement due to its historical harm, its use for racist exclusion, and because BMI is based primarily on data collected from previous generations of non-Hispanic white populations. Due to significant limitations associated with the widespread use of BMI in clinical settings, the AMA suggests that it be used in conjunction with other valid measures of risk such as, but not limited to, measurements of visceral fat, body adiposity index, body composition, relative fat mass, waist circumference and genetic\/metabolic factors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThere are numerous concerns with the way BMI has been used to measure body fat and diagnose obesity, yet some physicians find it to be a helpful measure in certain scenarios,\u201d AMA Immediate Past President Jack Resneck said.<\/p>\n

He is also a professor at the University of California San Francisco. \u201cIt is important for physicians to understand the benefits and limitations of using BMI in clinical settings to determine the best care for their patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some medical professionals have previously called BMI \u201cracist\u201d and linked it to \u201cbody terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n

University of Louisville medical students learn about \u201cthe oppressive history of the Body Mass Index\u2026within the medical industrial complex,\u201d as previously reported<\/a> by The College Fix<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The September 2021 seminar also discussed \u201cthe impact of body terrorism on fat LGBTQ+ people.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Marketing scholar says clean pantries are ‘racist’ and ‘sexist’<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Ohio State University College of Medicine\/YouTube<\/p>\n

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