However over time, the simplicity of BMI has lead to its popularity even though it has a rather incorrect approach and findings. Since BMI presents a very average figure, even healthy, muscular men and women can be classified as overweight/obese, which would be incorrect. This is because BMI would not take into account the facts like weight distribution or muscle weighs more than fat. So enters Body Volume Index (BVI), a relatively lesser known, but seemingly more accurate method, of identifying body fat percentage or amount.
Body Structure Of 8 Different Women With A Similar BMI Of 30
BVI is able to pinpoint, where excess weight is distributed across a body, including the high risk areas like chest, abdomen, pelvis and thighs. This is followed by a comparison with average BVI mean for people in the same sex and age group.
BVI Scanner @ http://www.bodyvolume.com/
- The process of measuring BVI is quite high on the budget, but the method is quite simple in itself.
The person, just wearing their essentials, steps into a BVI scanner which is like a booth; it is actually a non-radiating, non-invasive 3-D body scanner, much on the lines of a photocopying machine.
The machine then maps the body contour in 3D, by using 32 cameras and 16 sensors to feed data into a computer.
A mapping software then creates a BVI reading based on 300 measured points on the body, which is then interpreted by a healthcare professional.
The scanner was originally developed for clothes manufacturers to observe and detect modern body shapes for correct cloth sizes. For Richard Barnes, the managing director of Select, the company that developed the BVI scanner, a “Eureka” moment happened when he realized that the same scanner could also used to combat anorexia, an eating disorder.
Once the experimental trials are over, the scanner would also be able to detect the risk of a disease a person is facing, just by measuring their body size, using national averages for age, gender and ethnic origin. Seeing the usefulness of these scanners, one wishes that each and every hospital should be having these, but cost is a very big factor. Costing around £50,000, it is believed that automatic detection and analysis along with electronic data bank could save NHS million pounds a year.
With time and widespread usage, the cost of scanner is likely to reduce, after which organizations like The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), The World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Health Service (NHS) along with collaboration of scientists, and public sector funding bodies could even discuss a possible replacement of BMI by BVI.
BVI is definitely a more accurate measurement tool, that could assist in the battle against heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and metabolic diseases and helps in health monitoring and weight management.
