Developed by Adolphe Quetlet between 1830 and 1850, BMI, or Body Mass Index has been and remains a popular weight index used by health professionals world-wide.
BMI is a screening tool that measures your body fat, based on your height and weight. As a general indicator of health, this tool can be useful in helping you decide whether you are at the correct weight for your height.
Carrying too much weight can lead to a host of health concerns such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems. Carrying too little weight on the other hand, increases the risk of malnutrition, osteoporosis and anemia.
You can calculate your own BMI with this resource from the National Heart, Lunch and Blood Institute.
Body Mass Index can be a useful tool as a general indicator of health, however because it doesn’t take into account your age, muscle mass or ethnicity, it is not always 100% accurate.
If for example you are an avid sports person or professional athlete, your BMI won’t reflect your health accurately. Muscle weighs more than fat, so your height to weight ratio will be higher than that of a similar weight individual who is not carrying muscle.
ReadyScan, which is powered by InBody, is a very good alternative to the BMI screening tool. Here’s why…
The human body is composed of fat, water, proteins and minerals – something which BMI does not take into account. With ReadyScan, we use the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) method which measures these elements. Using the InBody Body Compostion Analyser we apply a small current on the body, which is completely comfortable and entirely non-invasive and is done by standing on a platform and holding two analysers with the hands.
The ReadyScan assessment takes into account 5 different zones of your body including the arms, legs and trunk. This is important because the fat to muscle ratio, as well as the water composition differs in these areas. In other words, ReadyScan is a very precise and accurate measurement.
The entire assessment takes just 5 minutes. By understanding the composition of the body, including the minerals and proteins that are present in your body water, we are able to assess the true status of your health.
Anyone can benefit from a ReadyScan assessment! If you want to really understand where you can improve on your health and how, we can help you. The assessment itself is just the indicator (and it is a highly accurate one), however we go beyond a test and show you what changes you can make to your lifestyle and diet to get you to your peak in health. This is all part of our service.
If you would like to book a ReadyScan assessment, look out for our Health Kiosks at Dischem or Sportsmans Warehouse, or contact us to find out when we will be in your area.