According to the body mass index, I am obese. The body mass index, more commonly referred to as the BMI, is a measure of the amount of body fat someone has. It is used in the medical field as a health indicator. I cannot overstate how unbelievably flawed this tool is. BMI is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters. Those two numbers don’t say much, or nearly as much as a few questions could, but that isn’t even the half of it. The BMI was created in 1832 by a statistician named Adolphe Quetelet, who wanted to define the normal man resting at the center of a bell curve. It was not intended for individuals but for populations. Quetelet wanted to define populations with numbers. Because BMI was developed in the 1800s, the demographic that the test targets is not representative of all populations. Because this method is based on only one type of person, the results only apply to that type of person. Women, especially women of color, are mis...