Title: Re: (hopelessly) Dumb APA style

Jean-Marc:

 

Some of what you ask is addressed at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/risk.htm.

This is not a fly-by-night website that is looking to sell diet pills. However, recently a large portion of the American population has been re-defined as obese but the question is what are the real health consequences. This webpage seems to address it responsibly although maybe someone else on the list is more qualified to judge it. It is sponsored by the NIH and, more specifically, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. According to the guidelines on the page above, “assessment of overweight involves using three key measures:

  • body mass index (BMI)
  • waist circumference, and
  • risk factors for diseases and conditions associated with obesity.

The BMI is a measure of your weight relative to your height and waist circumference measures abdominal fat. Combining these with information about your additional risk factors yields your risk for developing obesity-associated diseases.”

 

A table at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/bmi_dis.htm provides information on how a combination of BMI and waist circumference is associated with increased risk for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and Cardiovascular disease.

 

According to the first URL, BMI is a reliable indicator of total body fat, which is related to the risk of disease and death. The score is valid for both men and women but it does have some limits. The limits are:

  • It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build.
  • It may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle mass.

Rick

Dr. Rick Froman

Associate Professor of Psychology

John Brown University

2000 W. University

Siloam Springs, AR  72761

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

(479) 524-7295

http://www.jbu.edu/academics/sbs/rfroman.asp

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jean-Marc Perreault [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 10:57 AM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
Subject: BMI Scale

 

Hi Rick,
            I went to see what my BMI was, and to my surprise, I am half a point below being overweight. Now, if you saw me, you would know why I am surprised! I am 6'3'', and weight 195 pounds. I am not fat, and am quite in good shape.

I am curious to know if anyone knows "how" the BMI has been "normalized", if it has been. If I am just below being "overweight", what does this say about most people?

This kind of popular scale can have some far reaching consequences, if it is being used widely. Now, I KNOW I am not overweight, so do not really care about what a number says... but what about youger folks who are still developing their self-image?

This topic is of great interest to me right now... I'm in the middle ofteaching a Motivation section in Intro, and we touch on Anorexia. The link seems to stick out.

Any ideas or comments welcome (as always!!!)

Cheers!

JM



Rick Froman wrote:

These actually mean different things. Body weight is used in the calculation of body mass. The Body Mass Index (BM!) is a number based on a person’s weight and height. It is now the preferred measure for obesity.  If the editor took the weights and called them mass, that would be incorrect given the usage of the term BMI. Given the popularity of the BMI, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear someone say they are trying to reduce body mass. However, given that their height is likely to remain the same, that would be the same as saying they wanted to lose weight.

If you are interested in your BMI, you can try it out at: http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm. BMI is (weight in pounds) divided by (height in inches) squared x 703. You can also do it using kilograms for weight and meters for height that requires no multiplier at the end. I saw a key at the calculator site that indicates that Underweight = <18.5, Normal weight = 18.5-24.9, Overweight = 25-29.9, and Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater. So for the editor to know the body mass of your participants, he/she would have had to know their heights.

Rick

Dr. Rick Froman

Associate Professor of Psychology

John Brown University

2000 W. University

Siloam Springs, AR  72761

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

(479) 524-7295

http://www.jbu.edu/academics/sbs/rfroman.asp

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Brandon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 9:50 AM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
Subject: Re: (hopelessly) Dumb APA style

At 3:42 PM -0500 11/19/03, Stephen Black wrote:

On 19 Nov 2003, Allen Esterson wrote:
>
> Has anyone else had the experience of having a copy editor changing
> the tenses throughout an article?
>

No, but I did have an editor change "body weight" to "body mass"
throughout. While I suspect that may be techically correct ( I
imagine Allen, given his boffin background, would know), it's
certainly not current usage. For example, imagine saying you went  on

a diet to lose mass.

From Merriam-Webster's unabridged:

weight

1 a : the often specified amount that a thing weighs : quantity of heaviness <a basketball player with a playing weight of 215 pounds>.

mass

1 a (1) : a quantity of matter cohering together so as to make one body usually of indefinite shape <a mass of dough> <a mass of ore> (2) : an aggregate of particles or things making one body or quantity usually of considerable size <a mass of sand> (3) : a homogeneous pasty mixture compounded for making pills, troches, and plasters <blue mass> (4) obsolete : UNIVERSE, EARTH b (1) : the extent of body of a solid object : the extent of space that an object occupies : EXPANSE, BULK <the highest mountain mass on the globe -- Encyc. Americana> <lifts its bulky mass over the tangled summits -- Wynford Vaughan-Thomas> (2) : massive quality or effect : MAGNITUDE, MASSIVENESS <in the face of their mass and virtuosity, what was the use of rebelling against his frequent abuse of the language -- Time>

Note the last exemplar!

Since the term mass has many more meanings, its use would be less precise.

Also, it does not have a usable verb form:

one may weigh a subject, but not mass it!

-- 

* PAUL K. BRANDON               [EMAIL PROTECTED]  *
* Psychology Dept               Minnesota State University  *
* 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001     ph 507-389-6217  *
*    http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html    *

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-- 
Jean-Marc Perreault
Yukon College
Whitehorse, Yukon
867-668-8867

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