When assessing fitness, doctors and others who have a reason to do so use calipers to measure Body Mass Index (BMI). The BMI is the basis for judging who is overweight or obese and who is not. It is assumed that one can’t be fat and fit.

The cardiologist who conducted this study, C. Noel Bairey-Merz, says that is not necessarily the case.  People who can meet specific fitness measures, regardless of what the BMI index says, can be fit.

Of course, the BMI is easier to measure. An exercise capacity evaluation takes time, a specifically designed space and a qualified person to do the assessment.

What is fitness for people who flunk the BMI test? Read on.

NPR

“Health experts now think it’s altogether possible to be overweight — but still fit.

“They say measuring only an individual’s BMI, which is a measurement of body fat based on height and weight, can be misleading. Muscle weighs more than fat, for one thing. Extremely muscular individuals could actually have BMIs that classify them as overweight or even obese. Increasingly, health experts say a better measure of overall health includes not only BMI but a test of “fitness,” too.

“Cardiologist C. Noel Bairey-Merz is one of those experts. She’s the director of the Women’s Heart Center as well as the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Center at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. As a result of her research, she says “fitness” now trumps “fatness.” She says those who are fit are people who could walk 30 to 60 minutes without having to stop; who could climb two flights of stairs without becoming winded; or who could do some mild to moderate aerobic activity — a brisk walk or short jog, for example.”

Source: NPR, July 5, 2010