I noticed this wasn't really covered, and I've noticed a few newer articles from really big sources that have finally done some really investigation on the topic. Well, I never really liked the BMI and always thought there was a lot missing, and now there are some interesting studies to prove it. While the BMI is a useful guideline, further investigation shows that it is not the weight, but the fitness level that will affect future health, and that inactive skinny people are at an elevated risk for problems, just like inactive overweight people.
http://www.neighborhood-heart-watch....icle_235.shtml
Fat vs. Muscle (really good article):
http://www.alive.com/1383a4a2.php?text_page=1
Obesity Myths:
http://www.obesityscam.com/
"Consistently, physical inactivity was a better predictor of all-cause mortality than being overweight or obese."
-Annals of Epidemiology, 2002
Fat Report weighs America on a bad scale....
"Furthermore, this month the British medical journal The Lancet published a review of 40 obesity studies which found that "overweight" (as designated by the BMI) is in fact the healthiest weight category, healthier than "normal" or "obese" weights."
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_.../headline/3116
The point, is not slamming the BMI, but to raise awareness about what is being discovered as a more important factor for overall health, and that trying to get to a "normal" BMI, may indeed not be healthy for everyone. It's better to be a few pounds over, than to take extreme measures to get to that "normal" BMI category. The BMI doesn't take into account a lot of factors, and the results of BMI-health studies are kinda skewed. There are a lot more inactive people in the "obese" category than in the "normal" category and that isn't take into consideration by a lot of studies.
Here are the findings on BMI/fitness level:
Fat Report weighs America on a bad scale....
"Furthermore, this month the British medical journal The Lancet published a review of 40 obesity studies which found that "overweight" (as designated by the BMI) is in fact the healthiest weight category, healthier than "normal" or "obese" weights."
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_.../headline/3116