Credits: Social Media
Overweight Olympian Ilona Maher criticizes BMI as doctor says it’s not a perfect tool
A doctor has stated the validity of BMI scores after Overweight Olympian turned Dancing with the Stars contestant Ilona Maher criticized it being viewed as the single biggest sign of someone’s health.
Though the world has an obesity problem, which can also affect unborn babies, weight is a sensitive subject that is far more complicated than skinny equals healthy and fat means unhealthy. It’s partly the reason Ozempic has been so popular as fat people celebrate hope after years of feeling downtrodden.
Ilona Maher’s BMI is nearly 30
A person’s Body mass index (BMI) is calculated through the height and weight of a person, and yet, some view it as a direct sign of someone’s general health.
During a TikTok in July, a rude fan pointed out that American rugby union player Ilona Maher probably has a BMI of 30, which she confirmed herself in a video that has since amassed 1.2 million likes.
“I think you were trying to roast me, but this is actually a fact. I do have a BMI of 30, well 29.3 to be exact,” she said. “I’ve been considered overweight my entire life.”
Ilona continued to say it was nothing new to her, and that she’d been considered overweight throughout much of her childhood education. Obviously, this left a mark.
When consulting with her dietician about the validity of BMI, Ilona realized that it’s not that helpful to an athlete. It only tells you your height and weight, and how they interact, without taking into consideration a range of other factors.
“BMI doesn’t really tell you what I can do,” she said. “It doesn’t tell you what I do on the field, how fit I am, it’s just a couple of numbers put together, it doesn’t tell you how much muscle I have or anything like that.”
“I do have a BMI of 30, I am considered overweight, but alas, I’m going to the Olympics and you’re not,” she added.
Though not everyone is an Olympic-level athlete, Ilona’s statement goes to show that nothing is ever as simple as a single set of numbers. Sure, being overweight is not technically healthy, but the amount of fat you have in your body is not the only signifier of health.
Is BMI a sign of someone’s overall health?
In a bid to better understand the link between BMI and overall health, The Focus spoke to Dr Babak Ashrafi, clinical lead at ZAVA, one of the UKs leading weight loss treatment providers.
“While BMI has its uses, there are some issues regarding its application. Firstly, BMI doesn’t take into account an individuals proportion of fat to muscle,” he told us. “It simply looks at the overall weight relative to height, which means individuals with very different bodies can end up with very similar BMI scores. For example, a bodybuilder can have a high BMI but a low body fat percentage, and older adults can have a high percentage of body fat but still fall within normal ranges.”
Dr Ashrafi further noted how BMI does not take into consideration the “distribution of fat” on someone’s body, with different areas infering different things about someone’s health. For instance, high levels of abdominal fat are associated with an increased risk of serious conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
They added: “Another concern is that BMI doesn’t take into account individual variations in metabolism or overall fitness.
“Two people with the same BMI may have different levels of fitness and overall health. It’s essential to consider other factors like blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar control and lifestyle to gain a clearer picture.”
