A simple ratio of weight to the square of height, used as a population level screening measure for underweight, healthy weight, overweight and obesity. Its inventor, Adolphe Quetelet, developed the ratio in the nineteenth century as a statistical measure, not a clinical diagnostic tool, and it is debated for that reason as an imperfect proxy for an individual body composition.
Facts
First Described YearSourced to the subject's own account First Described EraSourced to the subject's own account1830s to 1850s, Adolphe Quetelet 2 Concept ClassNutrition science, screening measure 3 Connections
Associated With
Sustained caloric surplus or deficit (caloric balance) is the direct mechanistic driver of change in Body Mass Index over time.
Body Mass Index is a standard measure used in routine health screening programs.
Developed By
Ancel Keys coined the term Body Mass Index in his 1972 paper Indices of Relative Weight and Obesity, renaming and popularizing the weight-to-height-squared ratio Adolphe Quetelet had described in the 1830s (Quetelet is not yet a live Health figure entity).
In Branch
Source Encyclopedia Britannica
Sources
1. Dovetail: Bad Data, the History of the BMI
DovetailSection on Adolphe Quetelet's 1832 indexQuote, Section on Adolphe Quetelet's 1832 index
One enthusiast was Belgian mathematician, astronomer, criminologist, and statistician Adolphe Quetelet, who, in 1832, came up with "the Quetelet Index"-the exact same height-to-weight ratio that we call the BMI today.
2. Wikipedia: Body Mass Index
WikipediaHistory sectionQuote, History section
Adolphe Quetelet devised the basis of the BMI between 1830 and 1850.
3. Encyclopedia Britannica
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