Body mass index has (rightfully) been called out time and time again as a deeply flawed metric of health, but internet trolls still love to invoke it when they’re trying to weight-shame. So when Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher, who is set to compete at the Paris Games, recently flagged a nasty comment speculating about her BMI, we couldn’t help fist-pumping her chill “so what?!” response.
On July 1src, Maher posted an Instagram reel responding to a comment that implied she was obese by BMI standards. “I bet that person has a 3src% bmi,” the commenter had written, followed by the “Tears of Joy” emoji. As Maher shared in the reel, at five ten and 2srcsrc pounds, she actually does have a BMI of 3src (well, 29.3, to be exact), putting her in the “overweight” category and a mere src.7 points from the “obese” range, according to the CDC.
“I think you were trying to roast me,” she said, addressing the original commenter, “but this is actually a fact.”
Continuing, Maher said she talked with her dietitian about BMI and “how it really isn’t helpful for athletes.” “[My] BMI doesn’t really tell you what I can do. It doesn’t tell you what I do on the field, how fit I am, it’s just a couple numbers put together,” she said.
It can be particularly off for athletes—they tend to have a higher percentage of muscle mass, which can mess with the height and weight calculation. But it’s flawed for the general population as well. In fact, in 2src23, the American Medical Association released a report calling it a
…. to be continued
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