Why BMI is outdated and what that means for COVID-19

“The markers used to classify underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese were not always the ones that we have today and, in fact, between 1985 and 1995, they were changing quite a bit,” says Sabrina Strings, associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine. “I have not yet seen any evidence that the BMI markers are rooted in empirical findings amongst a diverse population. I keep asking, ‘Where is the science?’” Strings has been researching the origins and impact of the BMI for years in relation to her recently released book “Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia.”