According to studies published by the Endocrine Society, the BMI overestimates fatness and health risks for Black people. A large 2003 study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has shown that higher BMIs tend to be more optimal for Black people, and that Black women don’t necessarily show a significant mortality risk until they cross a BMI of 37. Meanwhile, WHO observes that the BMI underestimates health risks for Asian communities. … “So, when we’re talking about health in marginalized communities, we need to find out about the health issues on the ground,” says Sabrina Strings, Ph.D., an associate professor of sociology at UC Irvine, “We need to understand their context, their histories, and then we need to work with them to improve their health. There is no need for us to have a top-down approach [like BMI categories] that serves to stigmatize. Instead, we can think about ways that we can care for people without making them feel like they have to change who they fundamentally are.

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