Should we trust BMI calculators?

The BMI (Body Mass Index) calculator, takes into consideration your height and your weight, before working out whether you are healthy for your size. Various websites have specialised BMI calculators which ask you to enter your age, gender, height and weight before it calculates your body mass index. The World Health Organisation considers anyone who has a body mass index of less than 18.5 as underweight and anyone who exceeds 25 as overweight. There are three obese classes which follow the overweight category; obese class III (the heaviest class) is someone who weighs almost 300lbs, giving them a BMI of 40.

If you've dared to step back on the scales after coming back from vacation, or you have a feeling you've gained weight after eating all those rich foods over the Christmas break, then you might be considering starting a detox health plan. Some people join fitness classes, others sign up to protection plans such as Aviva health insurance while others fret over their BMI and begin to eat more healthily. However, the BMI test isn't a particularly accurate calculation because there are some obvious flaws.

Body builders and athletes
If a body builder or an athlete wanted to know their BMI, they would be shocked to discover that the calculator would deem them as overweight. Muscle weighs much more than fat, so even if you are very trim, toned and fit, the calculator might put you in the overweight category. This can confuse people who have lost a lot of weight by training hard and working out, and are still considered 'overweight' by the BMI test.

Variations
Different countries have their own variations of the BMI test. For example, in Britain a BMI between 18.5 and 25 is considered healthy, whereas in Japan and Singapore, a BMI of 23 is classed as overweight and anything more than 25 is considered obese.