The problems with body mass index (BMI)

American teens are anxious, exhausted, and getting too little sleep. Are phones really the whole problem—or should we also be looking at our culture of achievement? 

They were conscientious objectors who refused to fight in World War II. So they found another way to serve: they offered their own bodies for dangerous medical experiments. 

For 100 years we've been trying to kill mosquitoes. What if the real problem was us? 

Just because you can measure something doesn't mean it's the most important thing. 

<p>Medicine has evolved from a calling into an industry, adept at dispensing procedures and pills (and gigantic bills), but less good at actual health. Most reformers call for big, bold action. What happens if, instead, you think small? </p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWi ... Show More

We are inclined to gauge progress by tangible measures and quantitative figures. However when practicing mindfulness, the gauge of progress can be a little cloudy because it is an internal measure that we set for ourselves. Want more Andy? Try Headspace today. Learn more about yo ... Show More

Healthcare workload has emerged as an important metric associated with poor outcomes. To measure workload, studies have used bed occupancy as a surrogate. However, few studies have examined frontline clinician workload and outcomes. 

Much of medicine doesn’t do what it is supposed to do: improve health. That is the view of orthopaedic surgeon, Ian Harris. Ian believes too many drugs are being prescribed, too much surgery is being performed, and there are too many unhelpful tests, scans, and overdiagnosis. The ... Show More

<p>If you’ve been in a high street pharmacy or supermarket recently, chances are you’ll have seen home test kits for all sorts of indications; blood sugar level, vitamin deficiencies, thyroid function, and even some forms of cancer. </p> <p>A new series of article in The BMJ reve ... Show More

<p>In this month's Talk Evidence, Helen and Juan are reporting from Preventing Overdiagnosis - the conference that raises issues of diagnostic accuracy, and asks if starting the process of medicalisation is always the right thing to do for patients.</p> <p> </p> <p>In this episod ... Show More

Modern medicine has given us incredible tools to peer inside the body and spot disease earlier than ever before. But with that power comes a problem: the more we look, the more we find — and not everything we find needs fixing.My guest today, neurologist Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan, a ... Show More

For decades, BMI — calculated by dividing weight by height squared — has been as an international standard to determine healthy weights.However, BMI does not measure body fat, and ignores many other factors that can affect how healthy someone it.Now, a small but growing movement ... Show More