What’s a quick measure of how healthy you are? Most people would say Body Mass Index or BMI. But increasingly, experts have come to the conclusion that BMI has several limitations. Why? For one thing it was made using data from 19th century Europeans and does not work well across different populations. For another, it does not tell you the composition of your weight, or crucially, where that weight is located. Indians are genetically predisposed to putting on more weight around the abdomen region, and it is this fat that puts at risk of various diseases including diabetes. And this where another index comes in – the Body Roundness Index or BRI. Devised in 2013, studies over the last decade have now shown that BRI may be a better predictor of what health risks you may face. BRI, unlike BMI, takes your waist circumference into account, essentially letting you know if you are too round, and therefore unhealthy.
How does the BRI calculation work? What has research about it shown so far? And is it a better metric for Indians to use?
Guest: Diana Thomas, the mathematician who devised BRI. Dr Thomas is a a full professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the United States Military Academy, West Point
Host: Zubeda Hamid
Edited by Jude Francis Weston
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In Focus by The Hindu