BMI

In reference to: The Athletic Body Mass Index By walte423 on November 14, 2010 8:59 PM under Health Body and Diet.

In class I found this topic very interesting. Many athletes have BMI's that say they are indeed overweight. Athletes have very toned bodies and most people would say they are very healthy. Look at the U.S. Olympic teams. How many people would say that an Olympian needs to lose weight to be more healthy? Doctors are always checking patient's BMI's and telling them to lose more weight to be conceded a healthy weight and not obese or over weight. This post describes the trends in some U.S. Olympic athletes and shows that a decent percent of them would be considered over weight on a BMI scale. I think this relates to Monday's class discussion of trustworthiness in scientific research, building democratic science, and/or community participation in scientific research because patients learn to trust their doctors, although in this case, doctors may not be totally correct.
First I'd like to point out that every time I go to the doctor, I look at the poster on the back of his door that shows the chart for BMI. While waiting a seemingly long time, I usually get up and place my finger on the height and my other index finger on the weight and bring them together to find my BMI. These posters are everywhere and I used to trust them when I went to the doctor because it was in a doctor's office and well, my doctor should know more than me. This is a great example of democratic science. As Naomi Scheman points out in her article, "As we see it, the primary issue is power" (44). Power is one thing that separates us. Should doctors have the power over their patients? They don't really know everything about a specific patient. Everyone is different. Everyone's body's and lifestyles are completely different, and the person who should know more about there own bodies is themselves.
Secondly, I think that the idea of community participation in scientific research can be incorporated in different ways. I love the idea of getting everyone on the same level. I've pointed out many times in this class that one main goal I think we are trying to get from this class is that we all have to think critically about everything and that nothing has a solid answer. We should be discussing and analyzing everything because one answer could mean something completely different to someone else. I think that some people are under educated due to a lack of resources and funds in this world, and therefore should have the chance to think critically just like everyone else. So I really think that community participation in scientific research is a great idea.