469: Has the wellness industrial complex gone too far? | Maya Feller, R.D.

BMI Flaws

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is widely criticized for its inadequacies as a health metric. Jason Wachob and Maya Feller argue that BMI fails to address the root causes of health issues, such as poor nutrition and lack of exercise, and instead acts as a superficial band-aid 1. Maya highlights the detrimental effects of focusing on BMI for children, noting that it can lead to early onset of conditions like diabetes and high cholesterol, which were previously seen only in adults 2. She emphasizes the need for a more comprehensive approach to children's health that goes beyond mere numbers.

BMI is just so flawed. So, like I did, I am, for example, I'm 48. I'm obsessed with increasing my lean muscle mass. The clock is ticking for me. I'm in a race to get some more muscle mass because it's harder. We've talked about this on the show, and so I did one of those tests where you do the, you know, your BMI, it's not perfect. But it's pretty close. So my body fat was quite good. It was 9%. But, like, my BMI, it was like 25. Like, it was just like, if I look at the body fat, it's like, you're very lean. Then you look at the BMI, it's like, oh, because I'm also six, seven.

--- Jason Wachob

   

Systemic Issues

Systemic issues significantly contribute to the health crisis in America. Maya and Jason discuss how broken systems fail to provide access to nutritious food and safe spaces for physical activity, particularly in marginalized communities 3. Maya describes the current state of health in the U.S. as a crisis, with high rates of non-communicable diseases and inadequate access to essential resources 4. She stresses the need for systemic change to break the cycle of poor health outcomes.

I feel like systems and structures are set up for people to stay within a cycle that perpetuates sickness.

--- Maya Feller