The main diagnostic test for obesity — the body mass index — accounts for only height and weight, leaving out a slew of factors that influence body fat and health.

The main diagnostic test for obesity — the body mass index — accounts for only height and weight, leaving out a slew of factors that influence body fat and health.

  •  jarfil   ( @jarfil@beehaw.org ) 
    7•9 months ago

    You can use it after controlling for the variables that would otherwise skew it.

    Comparing different sports with different muscle requirements, or different genders with different muscle development, would be a wrong use.

    Comparing averages of samples of Japanese vs. Samoans, with the same ratio of males vs females, sporty vs non-sporty, and a similar age distribution, would be a viable comparison.

    INB4 genetic differences between Japanese vs Samoans:

    “Over the period of 1978-2013, in a population of approximately 200,000 Polynesian people, the prevalence of obesity increased from 27.7% to 53.1% in men (2.3% per five years) and 44.4% to 76.7% in women (4.5% per five years)”

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9012561/