Media Watch: Anita Albrecht's BMI

A female bodybuilder was left outraged after an NHS nurse told her to lose weight and eat less, British newspaper the Mirror reported on 27th March. Anita Albrecht, who finished sixth in Miss Galaxy Universe 2012, the article continues, was told to exercise more because of her abnormally high BMI [Body Mass Index].



It seems the BMI, which has been the UK's standard way of assessing a patient's weight since the dawn of the National Health Service in the 1940s, might need a rethink. The method, developed in the first half of the nineteenth century, involves dividing your weight (in kilograms) by your height (in metres squared). The resulting number then places you somewhere along a scale from "underweight" (less than 18.5) to "morbidly obese" (40 or more). It might be a useful tool in many cases, but as it does not take into account whether the patient is carrying a lot of muscle, it's far from perfect.



Anita, who is muscular and relatively short (standing 4'11" or just about 1.50m), got a score of 29. On the BMI scale, she is "overweight". Despite Anita's protestations, the nurse flatly refused to discount the result (and furthermore rely on what she could see before her very own eyes), going on to advise her she was eating too much, and recommending more exercise and a diet of just 1,000 calories a day.



First reported in the local newspaper the Brentwood Gazette, the story - an almost perfect example of how state-run institutions fail the exceptional individual - was picked up by national media within days. Friend of the muscular woman The Daily Mail, for example, ran the story under the headline: Super Fit Personal Trainer and Champion Bodybuilder told she's OBESE by bungling NHS nurse.


Anita in 2001: I was not a happy girl, she says.

However, what every report has missed is the wonderfully ironic fact that it wasn't very long ago that Anita Albrecht was actually overweight. Rather than advising her to reduce her calorific intake, the National Health Service should be employing her and women like her to advise others about the benefits of muscle building exercise and a "clean", not a 1,000-calorie a day "starvation", diet.



You can read all about Kiwi-born Anita and her transformation on her website, and watch an interview with her (unrelated to the BMI fiasco) here.

Enjoy!