For @ilonamaher ‘s full video; make sure to check out her profile. Congratulations to her and the women’s Rugby Team for bringing home the bronze. And kudos to @ilonamaher for continuing to share body positivity. This video really resonated especially the part she said about how embarrassed she was in high school seeing “overweight” written on her physical forms. We don’t recognize how harmful these labels are when it comes to body image. Yes, health is important. Yes, exercise and a balanced diet is key; but BMI does not often account for health. Using her case; she is a strongly built woman. Her BMI is 30. This as a label would put her in the overweight category; but doesn’t account for muscle mass which weighs more than fat. The American Medical Association newest guidelines surrounding BMI also discussed how it’s an imperfect measure of body fat, was based on historical data from white populations, and doesn’t take into consideration a person’s body shape, gender, age, race or ethnicity. Like Ilona says, it’s not a good indicator of health. In my ideal world; we would discuss nutrition, physical activity, and family history at every visit in detail without using labels. Overweight, underweight, etc. It makes every young child and adolescent feel insecure and not supported in their bodies and overall health and fitness goals. Even if a child does need augmentation in nutrition and physical activity, the label is a poor motivator and negatively impacts body image. What’s more important to me is trends on a percentile curve (sharp jumps between visits can indicate endocrine conditions or sometimes conversations surrounding disordered eating) and discussions around fitness and nutrition. And, celebrating bodies and milestones our children and adolescents are making to creating a healthy lifestyle and NOT a number on the scale. For more about my pod