Body Mass Index

Lord Thomas of Gresford Excerpts

Thursday 22nd April 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Thomas of Gresford (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Addington on securing this debate. Having played rugby with him—and you cannot get closer to the noble Lord than being in the second row pushing against his noble backside— I suppose that, according to his opening remarks, I should be dead.

I share my noble friend’s concern about the misuse of and over-reliance on the BMI. To create a lifestyle that is dependent on staying within its limits is a mistake. It depends where your fat is stored. If your weight is around your waist disproportionately, you may well be within the BMI range but nevertheless at risk of heart disease, diabetes and other conditions. Studies instituted by Mark Hamer at Loughborough University some three or four years ago demonstrated that waist-to-hip ratio was a far better body indicator of health and longevity than the BMI.

I thoroughly agree with the views expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, and the expert research to which he referred. It shows, in short, that if you need braces as well as a belt to keep your trousers from slipping below your knees, you are in trouble—which I know, because that was my condition before I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma a couple of years ago. I have just now returned from my daily 7,000 paces with four inches off my waist and no braces. I cannot wait to get back on the water in a rowing eight—I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, will share my desire.

Life expectancy is increasing, but that does not necessarily mean an increase in healthy life years; it may be extra years of chronic ill health. The Scottish health survey published in the British Medical Bulletin in 2011 showed that, in the 10 years between 1998 and 2008, waist circumference increased by 5 to 10 centimetres in both sexes at ages between 50 and 70 years without a corresponding increase in BMI. It was thought to indicate an unfortunate circumstance of gain in visceral fat mass and loss of lean tissue. Both are major determining factors of ill health in the elderly.

The Women and Equalities Committee in the other place was right to find that BMI has turned into a justification for weight shaming and body image anxiety among the young. But, as I have said, it can be equally misleading as a guide to a healthy old age and, for this reason as well, the use of BMI as a measure of healthy weight should stop.