Ishita Roy

Is It Time To Say Goodbye To BMI?

Is BRI the new BMI?

For decades we were made to believe that the go-to measure for assessing a person's healthy weight was <span>BMI</span> or Body Mass Index. Whether it is a routine doctor's appointment or your first day in the gym, BMI is calculated to judge your health. Many companies, including protein companies, have also incentivised by the buzzing word BMI. However, many recent studies suggest that BMI may no longer be the best indicator of health and <span>BRI</span> might be the new BMI. 

Many scientists are now looking at a new way to calculate obesity, this is called the Body Roundness Index or the BRI. It is said to be more accurate than BMI. 

In a study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers found that a higher BRI was associated with an increased risk of death from any cause. The authors of this study concluded that BRI is a tool that is as easy as BMI to perform and calculate, however, it offers a more accurate assessment of body composition. 

“Our findings provide compelling evidence for the application of BRI as a noninvasive and easy to obtain screening tool for estimation of mortality risk and identification of high-risk individuals, a novel concept that could be incorporated into public health practice pending consistent validation in other independent studies,” the authors wrote.

BRI was first proposed in 2013, it uses height, weight, waist circumference and sometimes hip circumference for its calculation. The initial paper that detailed the concept of BRI was authored by Diana M Thomas, PhD, a professor of mathematics at the United States Military Academy at West Point said that it uses the concept of eccentricity, which describes how round or narrow something is. It represents a number between zero, for a perfect circle and one. 

"With BMI you’re actually using just two measurements. You’re using weight and height. In the Body Roundness Index, we’re using a few more measurements on the human body to capture that shape,” said Thomas.

BMI is calculated by dividing one's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters. It has been used for years to categories weight into underweight, normal overweight, and obese. 

A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal, while a BMI over 30 is classified as obese. However many experts have raised objections with it being the measurement unit. One of the major limitations is that it does not account for body composition. It does not tell anyone anything about the proportion of muscle, fat, or water in the body. For instance, athletes with high muscle mass may have a higher BMI, but they are fit and healthy. 

It also does not tell us where the fat is stored in the body. 

Whereas BRI calculates the percentage of body fat and provides a visual representation of the body's shape. A score between 1 to 15 is assigned, with scores over 6.9 or under 3.41 is considered to be at the higher risk of illness. 

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For decades we were made to believe that the go-to measure for assessing a person's healthy weight was BMI or Body Mass Index. Whether it is a routine doctor's appointment or your first day in the gym, BMI is calculated to judge your health. Many companies, including protein companies, have also incentivised by the buzzing word BMI. However, many recent studies suggest that BMI may no longer be the best indicator of health and BRI might be the new BMI. BRI Is The New BMIMany scientists are now looking at a new way to calculate obesity, this is called the Body Roundness Index or the BRI. It is said to be more accurate than BMI. In a study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers found that a higher BRI was associated with an increased risk of death from any cause. The authors of this study concluded that BRI is a tool that is as easy as BMI to perform and calculate, however, it offers a more accurate assessment of body composition. “Our findings provide compelling evidence for the application of BRI as a noninvasive and easy to obtain screening tool for estimation of mortality risk and identification of high-risk individuals, a novel concept that could be incorporated into public health practice pending consistent validation in other independent studies,” the authors wrote.What Exactly is BRI?BRI was first proposed in 2013, it uses height, weight, waist circumference and sometimes hip circumference for its calculation. The initial paper that detailed the concept of BRI was authored by Diana M Thomas, PhD, a professor of mathematics at the United States Military Academy at West Point said that it uses the concept of eccentricity, which describes how round or narrow something is. It represents a number between zero, for a perfect circle and one. "With BMI you’re actually using just two measurements. You’re using weight and height. In the Body Roundness Index, we’re using a few more measurements on the human body to capture that shape,” said Thomas.Limitations of BMIBMI is calculated by dividing one's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters. It has been used for years to categories weight into underweight, normal overweight, and obese. A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal, while a BMI over 30 is classified as obese. However many experts have raised objections with it being the measurement unit. One of the major limitations is that it does not account for body composition. It does not tell anyone anything about the proportion of muscle, fat, or water in the body. For instance, athletes with high muscle mass may have a higher BMI, but they are fit and healthy. It also does not tell us where the fat is stored in the body. Whereas BRI calculates the percentage of body fat and provides a visual representation of the body's shape. A score between 1 to 15 is assigned, with scores over 6.9 or under 3.41 is considered to be at the higher risk of illness. 