Who decided the BMI ranges and how?
In 1995, the World Health Organization recommended a classification for three “grades” overweight using BMI cutoff points of 25, 30, and 40. (see Physical status: The use and interpretation of anthropometry. Report of a WHO Expert Committee. World Health Organization: Geneva, 1995 (WHO Technical Report Series; 854)). A similar definition was released in a report in June 1998 (see Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. June 1998). This report was from an expert panel convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in cooperation with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
