Contrary to how it might seem, the Body Mass Index, BMI is not a natural law. It is not some universal measurement that takes all aspects of health into consideration.

It was created in 1972 by Ancel Keys as a single number to categorize fat percentage calculated from your height and weight.

The consequence of this has been generations of people who are unhappy with their weight and body.

Still today, official health guidelines and campaigns often point back to BMI when telling you how to live healthy. As there is nothing you can do about your height, every initiative is focused on your weight. If you happen to be above normal BMI, doctors may tell you to lose weight before initiating actual treatment, adding a weight loss challenge to your problems without providing actionable advice beyond “exercise more and eat healthier”.

The system might not get rid of BMI any time soon but you can definitely stop caring about it today.

To illustrate, many top athletes have a BMI above 30.

Even worse, 30% of people with a BMI over 30 are cardio metabolically healthy whilst 30% of those with a BMI of 20-25 are cardio metabolically unhealthy.