你听说过 “BMI” 吗？许多人会使用这个名为 “body mass index（身体质量指数）” 的参数作为评估自己的健康情况的标准。不过，由于计算身体质量指数的方法并不适用于所有人，而且也没有参考人种、脂肪比例和饮食习惯等许多重要的因素，因此这一参数近年来受到了不少质疑。本文浅谈仅用身体质量指数和体重来评估身体健康的局限性。

词汇：health 健康

1 Take your height in metres, square it, then divide it by your weight in kilograms. That's how you calculate your body mass index, or BMI. If it's between 18 and 25, your weight is healthy. If it's over, it isn't. So far, so simple. BMI has become a popular metric for people to check their health.

2 On a population level, data backs this up. People with a high BMI are statistically more likely to develop conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and some types of cancer along with other health problems. Checking BMI could be a way for people to easily assess their health and decide if they need to make any lifestyle changes.

3 However, BMI does not give the full picture. It's known that it's less accurate for some groups of people, such as children, the elderly or athletes. The measure was devised in the 19th Century by a Belgian mathematician, and this may be why the figures are more accurate for Europeans than other ethnicities. There are also several important factors that it doesn't measure. Someone who is very active may have significant weight from muscle. BMI doesn't differentiate between this or the visceral fat that is linked with negative health outcomes. It doesn't account for the range of nutrients or the level of cholesterol in someone's diet. What this means is that people can have a high BMI and be relatively healthy, while others may have a low BMI but be unhealthy.

4 The simplicity of BMI is attractive, it's also very visible and fits with society's perception of the importance of weight. However, dependence on it as an indication of health can cause stigma. People can feel judged because of their weight. This sometimes leads people to avoid going to the doctors if they know they're likely to be questioned on it. While BMI may be a useful measure, experts remind us that it should always be considered alongside other measures, such as blood pressure, blood sugar level, cholesterol level and others.

测验与练习

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 ________
Paragraph 2 ________
Paragraph 3 ________
Paragraph 4 ________

a. Not a complete vision
b. Dangerous in isolation?
c. A metric for exercise
d. Simple to measure
e. Reflected in data

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. A BMI over 25 is considered unhealthy.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

2. What does 'this' refer to in the following sentence? On a population level, data backs this up.
a. BMI being between 18 and 25
b. Risk of developing serious conditions
c. Using BMI to check health

3. Data shows that a high BMI means people have a higher chance of developing serious health problems.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

4. What is connected with health problems?
a. muscle weight
b. nutrients
c. visceral fat

5. Why do people sometimes avoid going to the doctors?
a. They are dependent on BMI.
b. They are insecure about their weight.
c. They have high blood pressure.

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

BMI is a popular 1) _______ for assessing health. It can show if people are 2) _______ more at risk of some conditions. However, it doesn't always 3) _______. It doesn't say whether someone's weight is caused by muscle or 4) _______. Unless we see it as one of several measures, we might create an unhealthy 5) _______ around weight.

visceral fat
stigma
metric
give the full picture
statistically
dependence
negative health outcome

（答案见词汇表后）

词汇表

body mass index 身体质量指数
metric 指标，衡量标准
population level 人口的整体水平
statistically 从统计学上看
hypertension 高血压
diabetes 糖尿病
arthritis 关节炎
lifestyle change 生活方式的改变
give the full picture 展现一件事情的全貌
ethnicity 种族
visceral fat 内脏脂肪
negative health outcome 负面的健康后果
nutrient 营养，营养元素
cholesterol 胆固醇
dependence 依赖
indication 指标，标志物
stigma 不良行为

答案

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 d) Simple to measure
Paragraph 2 e) Reflected in data
Paragraph 3 a) Not a complete vision
Paragraph 4 b) Dangerous in isolation

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. a. True. That's how you calculate your body mass index, or BMI. If it's between 18 and 25 your weight is healthy, if it's over, it isn't.

2. c. The pronoun 'this' refers to the sentence 'BMI has become a popular metric for people to check their health'.

3. a. True. People with a high BMI are statistically more likely to develop conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and some types of cancer along with other health problems.

4. c. BMI doesn't differentiate between this or the visceral fat that is linked with negative health outcomes.

5. b. However, dependence on it as an indication of health can cause create stigma. People can feel judged because of their weight. This sometimes leads people to avoid going to the doctors if they know that they're likely to be questioned on it.

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

BMI is a popular metric for assessing health. It can show if people are statistically more at risk of some conditions. However, it doesn't always give the full picture. It doesn't say whether someone's weight is caused by muscle or visceral fat. Unless we see it as one of several measures, we might create an unhealthy stigma around weight.