The Importance of BMI for Health

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a simple and widely used tool to assess whether a person is at a weight considered healthy in relation to their height. But why is it so important?

Maintaining a BMI within the normal range (18.5 to 24.9) is associated with a lower risk of developing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases.

However, it is fundamental to remember that BMI does not differentiate between fat and muscle mass. Therefore, athletes may have a high BMI without having excess body fat. Ideally, BMI should be used as a starting point for deeper evaluations.