BMI: This new value replaces the body mass index

One advantage of BMI was that it was fairly easy to determine. To determine the value, the body weight in kilograms is divided by the squared height in meters. Take a quick measurement, do the math, and you got a value – and you thought you knew what your weight and your health were. If the number was between 18.5 and 24.9, you were considered to be of normal weight; between 25 and 29.9 as overweight. If the BMI rose even higher, there was talk of obesity.

The BMI, which was devised in the 1830s by the Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet, has several weaknesses. Paul Cohen, a nutrition professor at Rockefeller University in New York, says: “The value does not take into account where the fat is located on the body and ignores the fact that muscle is heavier than fat.” This led to trained athletes with a lot of muscle mass performing worse in terms of BMI. And that despite a supposedly good BMI value, people had poor health parameters in blood tests because they had stored their fat primarily in their stomachs.

The “Body Roundness Index” (BRI) is now intended to solve this problem. Translated, this means something like “roundness index”. This value takes into account where the fat is located on the body. Researchers led by mathematician Diana Thomas had already proposed the BRI as a new benchmark in 2013, but it took a while before it became established.

It’s about the question of how round the body is. The calculation formula takes into account height and waist circumference, but not weight. Recently, the BRI was named by the respected medical journal “Jama Network Open” as the value that more accurately predicts the risk of mortality. “This allows us to better identify who suffers from visceral fat,” explains Cohen.

However, calculating the BRI is complex and can hardly be done without a calculator. The formula is: 364.2 − 365.5 × √(1 −[Bauchumfang in Zentimetern / 2π]² / [0,5 × Körpergröße in Zentimetern]²). If you want to make it easier, you can also enter your values ​​into one of the numerous online BRI calculators. At the end you get a number between 1 and 15. The rounder the middle of the body is, the higher the value is. According to a new study, people with a value above 6.9 are at the highest risk of mortality. It was almost 50 percent higher than that of people with a BRI between 4.5 and 5.5.