Originally posted by SueEllen
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...For example, between 1980 and 2000, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines (a joint report from the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services) have defined overweight at various levels ranging from a BMI of 24.9 to 27.1.
In 1985, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus conference recommended that overweight be set at a BMI of 27.8 for men and 27.3 for women—by this standard, a 6’ man would be overweight at 205 pounds, a 5’7” woman would be overweight at 175 pounds.
Then, in the 1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO) came out with a recommendation that a BMI of 25 to 29 should be considered overweight and a BMI of 30 or more obese (more on this below). To make the United States consistent with this standard, many federal health agencies and researchers soon began adopting the lower BMI standards, thus creating a confusing set of standards and guidelines.18
Partly to sort through these conflicting measures, in 1988 the NIH convened a panel of more than two dozen experts from the fields of health research, epidemiology, and nutrition to review the “evidencebased” research of the past twenty years. This NIH report concluded that the official designations of overweight should be set at a BMI of 25 and obesity at a BMI of 30, the same standards established by the WHO. Soon, this became the definitive guide for determining what was officially overweight and obese in the United States.
At the time it came out, the NIH report caused a lot of controversy because, overnight, more than 37 million Americans suddenly became “overweight,” even though they had not gained an ounce. What few people noticed, however, was that the scientific “evidence” to justify this change was nonexistent.
According to the NIH report, the classification of overweight at a BMI of 25 was based on the putative linkages to mortality. According to the report, people who have a BMI of more than 25 had “significantly higher mortality” rates than those under 25, but in both the WHO and NIH reports, none of the research really substantiated this claim.
In 1985, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus conference recommended that overweight be set at a BMI of 27.8 for men and 27.3 for women—by this standard, a 6’ man would be overweight at 205 pounds, a 5’7” woman would be overweight at 175 pounds.
Then, in the 1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO) came out with a recommendation that a BMI of 25 to 29 should be considered overweight and a BMI of 30 or more obese (more on this below). To make the United States consistent with this standard, many federal health agencies and researchers soon began adopting the lower BMI standards, thus creating a confusing set of standards and guidelines.18
Partly to sort through these conflicting measures, in 1988 the NIH convened a panel of more than two dozen experts from the fields of health research, epidemiology, and nutrition to review the “evidencebased” research of the past twenty years. This NIH report concluded that the official designations of overweight should be set at a BMI of 25 and obesity at a BMI of 30, the same standards established by the WHO. Soon, this became the definitive guide for determining what was officially overweight and obese in the United States.
At the time it came out, the NIH report caused a lot of controversy because, overnight, more than 37 million Americans suddenly became “overweight,” even though they had not gained an ounce. What few people noticed, however, was that the scientific “evidence” to justify this change was nonexistent.
According to the NIH report, the classification of overweight at a BMI of 25 was based on the putative linkages to mortality. According to the report, people who have a BMI of more than 25 had “significantly higher mortality” rates than those under 25, but in both the WHO and NIH reports, none of the research really substantiated this claim.
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