Body Mass Index Ethical Issues

This paper will discuss the ethical issues apparent in the article “Does Body Mass Index Adequately Convey a Patient’s Mortality Risk”? Body mass index also known as BMI is commonly used by health professionals, nutritionists, and clinicians. The purpose of BMI is used as a population assessment for overweight and obesity. Though its calculations are not deemed for diagnoses, it is a simply, quick, and inexpensive tool vastly used to screen the body’s adiposity mass. Moreover, if the results exceeds over 27% for both men and women, they are considered overweight. Unfortunately, it has been know as a health risk when this occurs, especially in the abdominal area. The debate on the ethical topics presented in the article neglected to deliberate the person’s race, cultural acceptance physic, height, and where the adiposity is stored on the body. In addition, this paper will also mention concerns that were highlighted as evidence base health promotion activities. As a result the paper will address the concerns from a public health professional prospective.
Another ethical issue that was brought up of concern is race and age because both have an effect to persuade the alliance with disease risk, mortality, and BMI (Steven B. Heymsfield, 2013). Unfortunately, lack of proper education in lower-income African American communities, forces the population to lean on their traditional selection of unhealthy foods. With this is in mind, it is almost calculating that particular racial groups are susceptible to certain disease. Public health professionals are constantly conducting researches to develop a better understanding why, this course of action and results affect this race. Moreover, this will play a part to changing provisions of inequity and health disparities (Wallerstein & Duran,