Editing Body mass index (section)

==Applications==

===Public health===
The BMI is generally used as a means of correlation between groups related by general mass and can serve as a vague means of estimating [[adipose tissue|adiposity]]. The duality of the BMI is that, while it is easy to use as a general calculation, it is limited as to how accurate and pertinent the data obtained from it can be. Generally, the index is suitable for recognizing trends within sedentary or overweight individuals because there is a smaller margin of error.<ref name="jxbvhf">{{cite book | vauthors = Jeukendrup A, Gleeson M |author-link1=Asker Jeukendrup |year=2005 |title=Sports Nutrition |publisher=Human Kinetics: An Introduction to Energy Production and Performance |isbn=978-0-7360-3404-3}}{{page needed|date=April 2012}}</ref> The BMI has been used by the [[World Health Organization|WHO]] as the standard for recording obesity statistics since the early 1980s.

This general correlation is particularly useful for consensus data regarding obesity or various other conditions because it can be used to build a semi-accurate representation from which a solution can be stipulated, or the [[Recommended Dietary Allowance|RDA]] for a group can be calculated. Similarly, this is becoming more and more pertinent to the growth of children, since the majority of children are sedentary.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Barasi ME |year=2004 |title=Human Nutrition – a health perspective |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-340-81025-5}}{{page needed|date=April 2012}}</ref>
Cross-sectional studies indicated that sedentary people can decrease BMI by becoming more physically active. Smaller effects are seen in prospective cohort studies which lend to support [[active mobility]] as a means to prevent a further increase in BMI.<ref name="Dons">{{cite journal | vauthors = Dons E, Rojas-Rueda D, Anaya-Boig E, Avila-Palencia I, Brand C, Cole-Hunter T, de Nazelle A, Eriksson U, Gaupp-Berghausen M, Gerike R, Kahlmeier S, Laeremans M, Mueller N, Nawrot T, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Orjuela JP, Racioppi F, Raser E, Standaert A, Int Panis L, Götschi T | title = Transport mode choice and body mass index: Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from a European-wide study | journal = Environment International | volume = 119 | issue = 119 | pages = 109–116 | date = October 2018 | pmid = 29957352 | doi = 10.1016/j.envint.2018.06.023 | bibcode = 2018EnInt.119..109D | hdl-access = free | hdl = 10044/1/61061 | s2cid = 49607716 | url = https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/152336/1/Dons2018_preprint_BMI.pdf }}</ref>

===Legislation===
In France, Italy, and Spain, legislation has been introduced banning the usage of fashion show models having a BMI below 18.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3770696/france-banned-ultra-thin-models/|title=France Just Banned Ultra-Thin Models| vauthors = Stampler L |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410084813/http://time.com/3770696/france-banned-ultra-thin-models/|archive-date=2015-04-10}}</ref> In Israel, a model with BMI below 18.5 is banned.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/israeli-law-bans-skinny-bmi-challenged-models/story?id=18116291|title=Israeli Law Bans Skinny, BMI-Challenged Models|author=ABC News|work=ABC News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210120342/https://abcnews.go.com/International/israeli-law-bans-skinny-bmi-challenged-models/story?id=18116291|archive-date=2014-12-10}}</ref> This is done to fight [[Anorexia nervosa|anorexia]] among models and people interested in fashion.