Body Adiposity Index (BAI)

Experts have developed a new system to tell people if they're too fat, and it's probably more flexible than the traditional body mass index or BMI ratio.




Researchers at the University of Southern California have devised a system called the Body Adiposity Index (BAI), which relies on one's height and hip measurements as opposed to the height and weight ratio of the BMI system. This new method, which is outlined in a report in the journal Obesity, can be used in a clinical setting as well as in remote locations where reliable scales aren't available.



BMI, which has been used to measure body fat for the past 200 years, is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. And it classifies a person who is five feet, five inches tall and weighs 150 pounds as overweight. That person would be classified as obese at 180 pounds.



"The problem with BMI is it doesn't take into account that a person may be an athlete or a fitness expert," Dr. Michael Wolfe, chair of medicine at The MetroHealth System and professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve Medical Center, told AOL Health. "Someone with higher muscle mass will have a higher weight. BAI tells you more than just weight; it also tells you composition of weight."



BMI measurement may not be consistent either when applied to different nationalities or even lifestyle groups. For instance, an athlete cannot be compared to a couch potato, and African Americans may have a different body build from Caucasians. Men and women, too, can have the same BMI but very different amounts of body fat.



But doctors can use the BAI system to measure body fat for adult men and women of different cultural backgrounds without numerical correction. In addition, BAI can be measured without stepping on the scales, which could be useful in situations where measuring accurate body weight is difficult. Doctors can calculate a person's BAI with something as simple as a calculator, too, just as with the traditional BMI measurement.



Researchers are not certain, however, if BAI is necessarily a more reliable measure.



But it may be one more resource that health-care professionals can use to determine people's risk for obesity-related diseases. "Once we are able to validate [BAI's] usefulness, we will be able to use it next to the BMI system," Wolfe says.



One in 10 people worldwide are now considered obese, and in the U.S., estimates project 10 percent of all medical costs can be traced to health problems caused by obesity.

 
 
*Taken from: http://www.aolhealth.com/2011/03/04/new-method-measures-obesity-without-using-scale/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl5%7Csec1_lnk3%7C204698