East of England charity backs calls for BMI to be scrapped
The system has been described as "exceptionally outdated" by a support organisation
A charity in the East of England is backing calls for the use of the body mass index (BMI) to be scrapped.
In a report released today (9 April) the Women and Equalities Committee warned the use of it contributes to eating disorders and poor mental health.
Wednesday's Child, which supports people with eating disorders across the region, has also found the use of BMI has prevented people from receiving the support they need.
According to the charity, eight in 10 people they have engaged with since the first lockdown were "unable to access treatment at all" or were discharged early due to their BMI.
Founder Debbie Watson said: "They effectively feel like they are being rejected because their BMI doesn't fall within that criteria.
"That sets of a toxic chain of events in which they feel they've got to get sicker or thinner in order to access the help they so desperately need."
"People come with an eating disorder of all shapes and sizes of bodies. The size of a body doesn't tell you a lot about how severely they might be struggling with an illness that constitutes having the highest mortality rate than any other mental health illness.
"Someone with incredibly dangerous eating disorder behaviour and thoughts might still be of a weight above the BMI requirement, perhaps because of their bone structure, their muscle mass, or that their disordered food and exercise regimes don’t necessarily constitute in extreme weight loss."
Around 1.6 million people are effect by eating disorders in the UK.
The Women and Equalities Committee also deemed the Government's obesity strategy "dangerous" for people with negative body image.
Chair of the Committee, Caroline Nokes, said: "Over the past 10 years, there has been a wealth of research and recommendations on how to tackle negative body image but Government action in this area is limited – we need to see urgent action.
"The use of BMI as a measure of healthy weight has become a kind of proxy or justification for weight shaming.
"This has to stop."
"We are particularly alarmed by the rise in eating disorders and concerned that the Obesity Strategy and data collection of obesity levels in kids make things worse by failing to promote healthy behaviours.
"The Government must ensure its policies are not contributing to body image pressures."
Social media and the use of advertising are known to cause negative body image and the Committee thinks it's "paramount that people are protected" from content which could increase pressure on viewers.
Caroline continued: "The pressure will intensify as gyms and beauty salons reopen on Monday (12 April). This may be exciting for some but it will be difficult for people who experience body image anxieties.
"It's critical that Government action works towards improving body image."
The report recommends Public Health England stops using BMI to measure a person's health and instead take a "Health at Every Size" approach.