Is Muscle Mass More Important than BMI?

Ask any personal fitness trainer, and they’ll tell you that building and maintaining lean body mass is important for functional mobility as well as overall health.  But new research shows that medical professionals should be promoting it to their patients as well.

“Muscle mass should be looked at as a new vital sign,” says Carla Prado, PhD, RD, associate professor at the University of Alberta, Canada.  “If healthcare professionals identify and treat low muscle mass, they can significantly improve their patients’ health outcomes.  Fortunately, advances in technology are making it easier for practitioners to measure muscle mass.”

Prado based her comments on findings from a recent review of over 140 studies in inpatient, outpatient, and long-term care settings that looked at the relationship between muscle mass and the subject’s health status.  The researchers found that people who had lower muscle mass had longer hospital stays, more surgical and postoperative complications, lower physical functional capabilities, poorer quality of life, and shorter lives overall, especially for individuals with chronic diseases.

Based on these studies, researchers questioned whether the traditional Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement was the best evaluation for general health, since BMI’s don’t reveal differences in muscle and fat mass.  And, even with someone who is considered to be at a “normal” weight, may in fact have a low muscle mass, thereby opening themselves up to the associated health risks.

So, while you don’t have to go out and make body building your new hobby, it would be a great idea to incorporate some kind of strength training into your weekly workout schedule.

—
Photo Credit:  Kzenon / Shutterstock.com