99problemsbeingfataint1

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

Welcome to the page that will provide reasons why medical professionals and health care providers should no longer use an outdated metric system, BMI, to measure 'healthy' bodies.

by Ariel B - SOC 466 1002 - 2023

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

definitions:

BMI: Body Metric Index is a person’s weight divided by the square height.

Body Positivity: celebrating one’s body regardless of its size and shape

Body Neutrality: accepting one’s body capabilities and restrictions regardless of ablelity.

Fat Phobia: An abnormal and irrational fear of being fat or being around fat people

HAES: “health at every size” movement, aimed to promote well-being though the eradication of weight bias and promotion of body positivity. Campaigned to re-educate health professionals and change the obesity is managed.

Obese: condition of being overweight, based on BMI chart

Racial health disparities: a difference in which disadvantaged social groups such as the poor, racial/ethnic minorities, women and other groups who have persistently experienced social disadvantage or discrimination systematically experience worse health or greater health risks than more advantaged social groups.

Weight Bias: Describes negative attitude towards those who are perceived to have surplus body weight.

Weight Bias Internalization: occurs when individuals apply negative weight stereotypes to themselves and self-derogate because of their body weight

Weight management: a focus on practices and behaviors to manage weight gain or loss safely for personal health reasons and lifestyle.

Weight loss: focus on specifically losing weight or mass

Weight stigma: The discriminatory acts and ideologies targeted towards individuals because of their weight and size

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

Got 99 problems & BMI is one

For many racial health disparities, socioeconomic status places a huge part in individuals health. This blog recognizes that many minority groups are not measured in studies due to the limit funding and agenda for a few institutions. Specifically this blog will be recognizing the minorities of Black and Latinx Americans. Limitations of information on this blog hopes to provoke more research on Native Americans and Asian/Pacific Americans. Weight stigma and weight bias is projected on all these groups and it is important to explore better ways that we can include all groups to strive for better health. This blog will discuss BMI and how it contributes to fat phobia and how fat phobia creates discrimination to fat people seeking medical aid. Fat peoples’ symptoms can be ignored and overlooked due to doctors blaming the patient entire health on their weight. BMI is a weight measure index, widely used in every medical examination. I believe that BMI, body mass index, should not be the main determinant to identity an individual’s “healthy” weight.

I feel that it is important to provide fair and unbiased medical attention to all people. Health is important for everyone and doctors must not have a prejudice or bias towards fat people in order to make a fair examination. Fat phobia has kept doctors from investing time or patience towards their fat or fatter patients. BMI is still widely used but is extremely out dated and not that much information unique to the patient is equated into the BMI metric. This research will show new approach in helping fat people searching for medical help and better health. I feel that it is important to understand how fat patients feel prior to a medical examiner so that doctors can be a bit more sympathy when helping fat patients.

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BMI is Bogus

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is BMI useful?

Research shows for many women, Black and Latino women reporting in higher rates,  often face weight stigma when visiting their doctor offices. From the first initial visit, patients are measure and examined to see how healthy they are. Based on blood work, mobility, and vitals the medical examiner can give patients more information on their health. The weight stigma comes to play when a patient appears to fat or fatter than what the medical examiner perceives as a healthy individual. This patient now has the weight bias of their examiner to navigate to actually have the main reason why they are visiting in the first place. In most cases the patients inquire of their aliments are dismissed because most medical professionals my diagnostic the patients’ aliments, what ever it is, is because they are fat.

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

I believe:

BMI is the key indicator of measuring individuals’ levels of weight, as a collective in medical patrons we need to limit our use and reference to an outdate metric index.  With BMI measurements, it is a driving factor in many health studies. The problem that this can pose is does the BMI properly measures the difference in individuals’ ethnic backgrounds.

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

In most health examinations, being healthy is associated to body weight. Based on study done in 2000 by CDC it is estimated that more than half of adults in United States are obese. Obesity is related to and may lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, and arthritis. In a similar study, obesity is associated with a higher probability of having arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension. Obesity then shows ties to higher health care costs and increased mortality. It is important to mention the correlations that obesity can bring to individuals, the risks that people may face when obese. It is just as important to mention that individuals health behaviors are close reflection of their socioeconomic status. For most Americans it is evident that with low socioeconomic status means higher chances of unhealthy diets, negative health behaviors may lead obesity and or other chronic health conditions (CHC).

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Curious to calculate your BMI?

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Race and BMI

Race is associated with both CHCs and BMI indicating that disadvantaged ethnic minorities (for example, black Americans) present higher BMIs and more CHCs.

Robert and House (1996) found that black Americans present more CHCs than their white counterparts. Including adults age 70 and over in the sample, found that black American elders were more likely to be overweight or obese.

Between 1988 and 1994, about 64 percent of non-Hispanic black Americans were overweight or obese compared with about 55 percent of non-Hispanic white Americans

In 2002, about 69.3 percent of non-Hispanic black Americans were overweight or obese, whereas about 57.4 percent of nonHispanic white Americans were overweight or obese

(Kahang 2010)

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

[99problemsbeingfataint1]

BMI needs to go

The medical weight standard is based on a system that was created with one group of people in mind. I argue that there should be a reconstruction of a new metric system that includes more just than weight and height to determine and individual ‘healthiness’