You are an employee at a large insurance company An applicat

You are an employee at a large insurance company. An application for insurance comes across your desk from a local bodybuilder. This person eats well, is healthy, and works out, but because of the amount of muscle mass this person has, his body mass index (BMI) puts his in an extreme obese category. Company policy dictates that anyone with an obese BMI must be charged more for their health care policy. Is the BMI chart health care providers and insurance companies use to determine who falls into a healthy or unhealthy weight outdated? Why or why not?

Solution

BMI should be used as a screening tool but not as a diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual. If the BMI is in a health risk, then the healthcare provider has to do some assessments like skinfold thickness measurements, evaluations of diet,physical activity, family history and other health screenings. BMI calculations will overestimate the amount of body fat for bodybuilders. Sometimes the tendency to deposit fat around the middle is influenced by the a persons genes. Hence it may be hereditary. One cannot say that when obesity becomes a major health problem.

Yes, higher BMI person is considered to be healthy as long as the person is declared \"healthy\" after a physical examination. It always does not predict well for most muscular individuals.Public health intervention programs have had limited success in tackling the rising prevalence of obesity.