What are the BMI limitations?
The BMI does not make a distinction between fat and muscle. We have compiled a list of athletes who won Gold medals at the Athens 2004 Olympics and would be considered overweight using the BMI scale. See our BMI for athletes section, which shows that all members in the Gold medal winning GB rowing coxless four would be considered overweight using this scale. This highlights a person with a lot of muscle (such as an athlete) may have a BMI in the unhealthy range, but still be healthy and have little risk of developing diabetes or having a heart attack. BMI also may not accurately reflect body fatness in people who are under 5 feet and in older people, who tend to lose muscle mass as they age.
