The mismeasure of (obese) man – body mass index is an inadequate indicator of body condition

The body mass index (BMI), recommended also by the World Health Organization, is currently used as the leading body condition indicator in clinical and epidemiological studies and has become popular among the general public. Here we provide evidence of a systematic bias in BMI, showing that BMI is dependent on body height. As a result, shorter persons have a greater chance of being classified as underweight, while taller persons as overweight, even if they have identical nutritional status. Use of BMI should be thus abandoned in diagnosis as well as in clinical and experimental studies.