It’s a good idea to get regular health checks for several things
People have been encouraged to get regular health checks(Image: Getty)
A dietician has cautioned against placing too much emphasis on a single measurement when evaluating your overall health. Evan Lynch, a registered dietitian and director of Nutrition in Europe for international nutrition brand AG1, has urged people to have routine health assessments.
These should include having your blood pressure checked and blood tests carried out “at least annually”, while he also recommended “periodically” monitoring both your weight and BMI (Body Mass Index). If you know what your weight is, you can work out your BMI yourself online. The NHS website has a calculator tool you can use for this purpose.
Those with an elevated BMI may face increased risks of developing particular health issues linked to being overweight or obese, including heart disease or type 2 diabetes. However, Mr Lynch cautioned that while it serves as a useful indicator, this figure should not be the sole measure for understanding your complete health picture.
He explained: “Body mass index is a tool widely used in healthcare and research settings to help gauge the level of adiposity (bodyfat) that an individual may have. It is something I use in practice and BMI is central to patient evaluation for obesity risk and malnutrition screening and is used in a threshold manner for some medications and medical procedures.”
It may not be an accurate depiction
Highlighting some limitations of the measurement, he explained: “It is true that BMI is not perfect, it doesn’t account for muscle mass and can be manipulated easily by fluid retention, glycogen levels etc. It also, like all measurements used to assess our physical attributes, is a standalone measure, and cannot alone depict trends in measurement.
“Further to this, BMI cannot assess for visceral fat, and someone with a normal BMI may not have an accurate depiction of their health if they use this metric alone. Every individual is different and the ideal measurement tool (DEXA or Bodpod) is pragmatically replaced with metrics like BMI or weight.”
Nevertheless, the health expert said that BMI continues to serve as a valuable quick reference tool for most people. Mr Lynch said: “I would encourage people to keep track of their weight & BMI, not too often, but periodically, and in addition to this, it is equally important to get your annual check-ups, to get your blood pressure and blood work done at least annually.
“Whilst increasing BMI is associated with greater health risk in most cases (and BMI’s that drop increasingly below 18.5), this alone should never solely be used to get a clear clinical picture of someone’s health. Relying on BMI alone is like trying to read a book by only looking at just one page: it may be informative, but it is far from complete.
“I would encourage those seeking to assess their bodyfat levels to invest in a BIA scale and/or conduct waist circumference measurements, these may give you more individual insights about your body composition.”
