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Techygal9 t1_iurvxl6 wrote

I don’t know where people got this notion that bmi doesn’t work or is completely wrong. From some research I had to replicate it’s about 87% (using ARC) accurate on its own to predict metabolic disorders, likelihood of hospitalization, and premature death. But that accuracy goes up when you add measures like waist circumference for women and neck circumference for men.

There are different bmi measures that should be used for different racial groups or sex, but those bmi scales are LOWER not higher.

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bazoo513 t1_iusod40 wrote

So, a marathon runner, waterpilo player and shot petter should all strive toward the same BMI? Good to know. Or are the latter two bound to live shorter?

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Techygal9 t1_iussqeu wrote

I think you’re being purposely obtuse about this. But bmi norms have ranges that can be 20 to 50lbs depending on your height. For athletes they may fall into the overweight category because of dense muscles. But their doctor would use bmi in conjunction with circumference of the neck/waist or body fat tests. That’s where the other 13% accuracy comes from.

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bazoo513 t1_iusw64e wrote

Oh, 100% combined predictive accuracy? I see Nobel somewhere here

Don't be ridiculous. Then again, having worked with physicians and being acquaintances with their typical skills in experiment design, statistics and data reduction, I am not surprised.

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TH3BUDDHA t1_iusw4s1 wrote

If you look at the physique of many shotputters, they are absolutely statistically likely to live shorter.

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bazoo513 t1_iusxzgv wrote

You conclude that "by looking at their physique", or by looking at actual data?

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