What to know about body roundness index, an alternative to BMI

(NEW YORK) — While body mass index (BMI) has long been a go-to measure of a person’s health, used by doctors and health insurers alike, a new approach is taking hold.

Body roundness index, or BRI, is gaining prominence as a way of predicting one’s health risk by taking into account more than just a person’s height and weight, which are the sole factors used to determine BMI, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Here are five questions answered about BRI and why it’s being used with increasing frequency.

1. What is body roundness index?

Body roundness index takes into account a person’s height and waist circumference to determine whether they are in a healthy or unhealthy sphere, according to Maya Feller, a registered dietitian and nutritionist.

A study published in June in JAMA Network Open described BRI as an evidence-backed tool for more accurately determining a person’s mortality risk.

2. How do I calculate my own BRI?

BRI is calculated using a mathematical formula: 364.2 − 365.5 × √(1 − [waist circumference in centimeters / 2π]2 / [0.5 × height in centimeters]2, according to the study.

There are online calculators where you can enter your height and waist and hip measurements to determine your BRI.

Once your measurements are entered, you will see a number and whether that puts you in or out of the “healthy zone.”

3. What are the criticisms of BRI?

According to Feller, one criticism of BRI is that it favors a certain body type.

“The challenge with the BRI is that it really favors more slender bodies, and it says that, okay, rounder bodies are not as ‘healthy,'” Feller said.

4. What is wrong with using BMI?

BMI is still a go-to determinant of health used by medical providers.

Some critics, though, argue that BMI does not take into account a person’s body composition because it only measures weight and height, according to Feller.

With BMI, a person is categorized as either underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese.

Last year, the American Medical Association said in a policy announcement that BMI does not account for racial, sex, age ethnic and gender diversity.

“It doesn’t take body composition into consideration,” Feller said. “So someone who’s very muscular might wrongly be put in the overweight or obese category, and that’s just not okay.”

5. What are other ways to check my health status?

Feller noted that while BRI and BMI can be useful, she recommends relying on tests that measure a person’s internal health rather than their weight or measurements.

“I always like to check the insides,” Feller said. “You can look as wonderful as you want on the outside, but what’s happening with your lipids? What’s happening with your blood pressure, your blood sugars? Those are the things that I want to see.”