Petition Ban the use of Body Mass Index (BMI) as a measure of obesity by NHS

Set in 1830 by a non-medical mathematician and astronomer, BMI is an inaccurate measure of body fat content and does not take into account muscle mass, bone density, overall body composition, racial and sex differences. When Johnny Wilkinson won the RWC he was officially overweight according to BMI.

More details

There is an urgent need for accurate tools to measure fat and skeletal muscle, and biomarkers that can better predict the risks of diseases and mortality. Advances to improve the measurement of obesity and related factors will help determine the optimal weight for an individual, taking into account factors such as age, sex, genetics, fitness, pre-existing diseases, as well as novel blood markers and metabolic parameters altered by obesity. (Ahima and Lazar, Science, August 2013)

This petition closed early because of a General Election Find out more on the Petitions Committee website

17 signatures

Progress of the petition towards its next target: 17 of 10,000 signatures required to get a government response

Show on a map the geographical breakdown of signatures by constituency

10,000 signatures required to get a government response

Date closed 3 May 2017
Get petition data (json format)

About petition data

The data shows the number of people who have signed the petition by country as well as in the constituency of each Member of Parliament. This data is available for all petitions on the site. It is not a list of people who have signed the petition. The only name that is shared on the site is that of the petition creator.